UK PM criticises banks for shelling out bonuses
Jan. 10: Britain is again debating the issue of bonuses being awarded to bankers as politicians and unions claimed that the huge cash awards were unjustifiable.
Prime Minister Mr David Cameron, trying to ward off growing criticism of the coalition government over the issue, said on Sunday that the banks should not be paying out huge bonuses. Royal Bank of Scotland, which is majority owned by the UK government, has been defending its right to award bonuses.
“Generally, I want to see the bonus pool smaller than last year, specifically, Royal Bank of Scotland, as you rightly say, is owned by the government,” Mr Cameron told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“They should not be leading the way on bonuses, they should be a back-marker.” I feel it because frankly the whole country has suffered from irresponsible lending practices, irresponsible behaviour,” Mr Cameron said, explaining that he understood the public’s anger over bankers’ bonuses.
“But we need to recognise though that there were a lot of people to blame for the mess we are in and that we shouldn’t just think it’s an easy scapegoat to pick one in view.
Governments made mistakes, regulators made mistakes, politicians made mistakes, everyone was involved. Opposition made mistakes, dare I say it.” The unions too targeted the coalition government’s policies over the bonus issue. “News that the government is allowing investment bankers to again award themselves colossal bonuses demonstrates the lame nature of this coalition,” Mr Len McCluskey, general secretary elect of Unite, the largest union within the financial services sector, said.
“It is intolerable that within taxpayer funded institutions these undeserving rich bankers have not been forced to change their culture of greed and excess. The self-indulgence of these bankers has brought our economy to its knees and yet this government refuses to veto their unjustifiable bonuses.” Mr McCluskey added.
Post new comment