Billions in bonuses for the bankers? Off with their heads...
Unbelievably, if not at all surprisingly, Osborne and Cameron today signalled that they had no intention of limiting the bonuses paid by state-owned banks to state-employed bankers. So, having bailed out the banks to the tune of a mighty £1 trillion (for which we’re now paying the price in the shape of VAT hikes, slashed public services, pay freezes, job losses, library closures etc etc) the banks get to award themselves bonuses as they see fit into the billions of pounds. Sick but true.
As if that wasn’t enough all this has come to pass despite months of rhetoric (read bullshit) to the contrary:
‘It is wholly untenable to have millions of people making sacrifices in their living standards only to see the banks getting away scot-free – the banks should not be under any illusion: this Government cannot stand idly by.’ – NICK CLEGG, 17 NOVEMBER 2010
‘I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow [the RMT union leader] could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer.’ – VINCE CABLE, 22 SEPTEMBER 2010
‘Every decision the banks make like that [paying large bonuses] makes it more difficult to keep a tax regime that they might favour.’ DAVID CAMERON, 17 DECEMBER 2010
‘We will not allow money to flow unimpeded out of those banks into huge bonuses, if that means money is not flowing out in credit to the small businesses who did nothing to cause this crash and suffered most in it.’ – GEORGE OSBORNE, 4 OCTOBER 2010
Nothing short of pathetic.