Banksters Paradise – govt allows bonus culture to continue at our expense

Let’s now consider decency. Or rather, the lack of it.

UKFI, which owns 70% of RBS on our behalf, has approved an obscene pay package for the bank’s boss.

Truly, Fred the Shred will be proud of his replacement.

Stephen Hester will be paid almost ten million pounds for his work – which will include sacking thousands of bank workers whose taxes are invested in RBS.

The govt could have acted to limit bankers’ greed, just listen to what the other shareholders think of this:

Roger Lawson of the RBS Shareholders Action Group said: “It is absolutely outrageous that the government does not use its power to bring the remuneration of bankers in these companies down to a reasonable level.

“Do they need to pay him this much to make him work harder?”

Mr Lawson warned that basing a bonus on share price would “just encourage risky behaviour.”

So, who runs UKFI then?

Richard Murphy lists the people that Chancellor Darling picked to manage our investments:

Glen Moreno – Acting Chairman – ex Citigroup and Liechtenstein banker
John Kingman – Chief Executive – civil servant ex private sector, formerly in charge of financial stability in the banking sector for the Treasury (which he clearly did not get right)
Peter Gibbs – ex Merril Lynch
Michael Kirkwood – ex Citigroup
Lucinda Riches – ex UBS
Philip Remnant – ex Credit Suisse
Louise Tulett – career civil servant

All the bankers are from organisations that failed.

And Darling expects to effect change?

Not a hope – not with this lot.

They’ll do all they can to promote banking – and that’s just not good enough when the real economy needs less banking and more real jobs.

That a Labour government – a Labour government! – is allowing the banks to keep their gravy train going at the taxpayers’ expense should give trade unionists pause for thought. Especially since the banks are cutting thousands of jobs and turfing people out of their homes.

Even the Tories had to criticise the obscene pay-out to Hester.

This will be a major embarrassment for New Labour. It will not be allowed to stand.