A leading bank executive has been forced to quit after making an insulting remark about Muslims. Marc Howells, who was one of Barclaycard’s leading figures, left his £200,000-a-year job after making the quip during a staff meeting as he discussed quarterly figures. Colleagues were stunned when he said: “The results were like Muslims – some were good, some were Shi’ite.” Offended members of staff complained to senior bosses about the “wholly inappropriate” comment.

Daily Telegraph, 1 January 2008