Dan Conaghan, author of The Bank: Inside The Bank of England
, responds to the Bank of England's criticism of his book.
There has been a spiky response from the Bank of England to my book The Bank: Inside the Bank of England. The Bank reckons that the book contains ‘inaccuracies’ and implied that the book was largely based on press cuttings. I’ll gladly consider any inaccuracies which it cares to identify (and I’ll happily reciprocate with a couple from the Bank’s own records), but I absolutely refute the accusation that the book is poorly researched.
In fact, the vast bulk of the book is based on extensive, first-hand interviews which were hard-won. Current Bank staff and those who had recently left Threadneedle Street, were understandably nervous about being interviewed, which is why I gave them absolute assurances of anonymity. But they were, nevertheless, willing to participate in the first book of its kind about the Bank and they had a great deal to say. Their accounts of, for example, the Bank’s conduct over Northern Rock, the rollout of QE and of the relations between the Governor and his senior staff were particularly vivid.
I treated this material with care. In several cases, I requested second interviews so that I could check that what had been disclosed was correct and not an off-the-cuff remark. Some interviews were held with senior figures at government offices in the presence of press officers (although on one occasion, the press officer was told to ‘cover your ears’). This process was long, arduous and based on trust. When it came to writing the book, I knew that above all I had to be able to justify the book’s subtitle – ‘Inside the Bank’. It has been vital to piece together these personal reminiscences which allow the reader to feel that they are ‘in the room’ at key moments in the Bank’s recent history. So I stand by the three years of research, the quality of my sources and the integrity of the book.