All for one and one for.......himself apparently.

Hullo there ma wee blog,

Reading the paper this morning and a report on yesterdays speech by Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank Of England, given to the C.B.I. in Edinburgh. He was taking the opportunity to fire a warning shot across the bows of the banking sector, warning against a return to the blockbuster bonus culture that has been blamed for threatening the stability of the financial system. His remarks come as a report is published claiming that city financiers are set to trouser bonuses of £6 Billion, up 50% on a year ago.

The R.B.S has already had to deny claims that some top investment staff are to walk away with bonus figures of £5 Million.

Goldman Sachs has openly stated that average, that's AVERAGE, bonus will be £500,000

Lord Myners, City Minister, has warned that he COULD act to cap them, but has so far only indicated that banks which have been part nationalised, such as RBS, will have big payouts blocked, although as far as I am aware he hasn't indicated what a 'big' payout actually is...

The RBS international arm in Singapore lost 30% of its staff as they jumped ship on being told that bonuses would be vastly reduced.

Mr King stated yesterday that 'Its important that banks in receipt of public money are not encouraged to try to earn their way out of that support by resuming the very activities that got them into trouble in the first place.'

He described the scale of support to the banking sector as 'breathtaking' and that it was now

'not far short of a TRILLION pounds, close to two thirds of the annual output of the entire UK economy. To paraphrase a great wartime leader, never in the field of financial endeavour has so much been owed by so few to so many. And, one might add, with little real reform.'

He went on to say that he believed that to have institutions that were too important to fail was inconsistent with the private sector, as encouraging banks to take risks that resulted in shareholder dividends and staff bonuses when things went well and losses for taxpayers when they didn't was unsustainable.

Thank God for common sense.

But, its been more than a year now and the banking system has spectacularly failed to show that it is capable enough, and responsible enough to put its house in order without being made to do it.

Shamefully, as they have been responsible for bailing out this shower of wasters, Her Majesties Government have also failed to show the spine they need to screw these money lenders down or flush them out of the temple completely.

I find it incredible, and ok, I appreciate after all that's happened this year, I shouldn't, that these people are still even able to expect these kind of bonuses when we, the normal man in the street are facing, unemployment, massive tax rises and reduced public services. It is absolutely immoral.

I think that Bankers bonuses should be compulsorily paid into a pension fund, administered by the Govt. and paid out slowly, say at 2% or 3% a year after standard national retiral age only. This money should then be used as a first 'bail out fund' if the silly sods ever bugger it up again.

Wake up ya shower o 'bankers'. Wake up government. Taxpayers wont tolerate this abuse.

Perhaps I should take a previous post back and move abroad and just snipe from there!




see you later.....


Listening to Bruce Springsteen 'Philadelphia'