The UK's finance minister George Osborne and the leader of the UK government's opposition Labour Party has called for a criminal investigation into the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) rate fixing scandal that saw Barclays slapped with a record £290m fine.

Osborne also says that Barclays is not alone in the interbank lending rate investigations and that he will examine any gaps in criminal laws to deal with the fallout of the probe.

He also added that the number of individuals being investigated will increase.

It is understood that the rate fixing scandal at Barclays involved between 10 and 20 rogue dealers, of which all of whom are being or have been dismissed.

Ed milliband

Labour's Ed Miliband said before Osborne's speech that those responsible for manipulation at the bank must face proper punishment.

"This cannot be about a slap on the wrist," said Miliband. "When ordinary people break the law, they face charges, prosecution and punishment. The same should happen here. The public who are paying the price for bankers' irresponsibility will expect nothing less."

UK Prime Minister David Cameron already responded saying the bank's management will have to account for the widespread misconduct.

"I think the whole management team have got some serious questions to answer. Let them answer those questions first," said Cameron. "Who was responsible? Who was going to take responsibility? How are they being held accountable?"

Barclays' share price is nosediving in today's session, after falling over 9 percent as of 1055 GMT at 178.15p.

Meanwhile, RBS shares are down some 7 percent while Lloyd's stocks fell in tandem by over 6 percent.

Calls for Bob Diamond to Quit

Milliband and other politicians are not the only ones asking for Barclays, its CEO Bob Diamond and other senior executives to explain themselves more fully and to stepdown.

The former Barclays' CEO Sir Martin Taylor, who held his post from 1994 to 1998, said that the bank's board needed to ask whether current boss Bob Diamond was "part of the problem."

"The question of how high up knowledge of this goes is something only Barclays can answer. I think they should answer," said Taylor. "These organisations are very large, as I know myself, and the chief executive doesn't always know everything that's happening in the organisation, though he's responsible for setting the tone of the organisation. But somebody at senior level somewhere will certainly have known. I can't believe Barclays haven't identified who that is."

"They've been investigating for years, so have the FSA, and no doubt they will take appropriate action. It's really for the board to decide whether Bob Diamond, who has amazing leadership qualities and huge personal following in the organisation, can be the person to turn the page on this, or whether he's part of the problem," added Taylor.

Barclays CEO Bob Diamond and three of the UK bank's most senior executives rejected their bonuses for 2012 after regulators announced the decision.

Meanwhile, three of Britain's biggest lenders, RBS, Lloyds and HSBC are among the 17 banks and one broker that are being investigated, following Barclays' involvement in fixing two of the most important interest rates in the global financial markets which resulted in a record fine.

Other banks being investigated include Citigroup, UBS, ICAP and Deutsche Bank are also reported to be under investigation by regulators across the world.

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