The former chairman of Barclays’ board remuneration committee has criticised the size of bankers’ bonuses, saying a culture of entitlement in the sector led to “obscene” levels of reward and that the bank’s former chief executive was reluctant to accept that pay was high.

Bob Diamond, who resigned after Barclays was fined ￡290m for attempting to manipulate Libor benchmark borrowing rates, was “overly protective of his investment banking franchise” according to Alison Carnwath, whose evidence to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was published on Wednesday.

“At Barclays the committee was aware that pay was at the top end of the scale and asked the chief executive on his appointment to take a leadership position and clarify the pay culture to staff,” Ms Carnwath said. “Mr Diamond was reluctant to do this and reluctant to accept pay at Barclays was high, particularly in the investment bank.”