Lord Oakeshott raised the bar on bankers' bonuses last night. He promised strong action and reiterated Nick Clegg's words that the Lib Dems "won't stand idly by" on bank payouts.
Senior Liberal Democrat Lord Oakeshott raised the bar on bankers’ bonuses last night by promising strong action and reiterating Nick Clegg’s words that the Lib Dems “won’t stand idly by” on bank payouts.
Speaking on Newsnight, the Lib Dem peer and Treasury spokesman said:
“This is a real moment of truth for the coalition on fairness. We can’t have a bonus bonanza in the age of austerity.”
Earlier the programme showed a clip of John Mann asking Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays:
“on how many occasions have the PM and chancellor met with you personally, looked you in the eye, and asked you to show restraint on the size of your bonus.”
The surprising answer by Mr Diamond: “They have not”. Despite the Conservative party’s tough rhetoric on bankers’ bonuses the reality is hardly surprising. As Next Left reminds us, two years ago David Cameron told a group of bankers including Bob Diamond that the City was in his blood:
“My father was a stockbroker, my grandfather was a stockbroker, my great-grandfather was a stockbroker.”
But Lord Oakeshott, a close ally of Vince Cable, insisted that a conversation had taken place in recent weeks between Vince Cable and Bob Diamond which “can only be described as an arid discussion … there was very little meeting of minds”. The Daily Express’ Chief Political Commentator Patrick O’Flynn was quick to spot the political significance of the exchange by tweeting:
“Oakeshott on Newsnight dynamite on bankers, will be consequences tomorrow. So outspoken with hints of Cable briefing … now Cable must back it up with action or look like a total tool.”
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17 Responses to “Top Lib Dem: Bankers’ bonuses are “moment of truth for coalition””
matthew fox
I wish Anon E Mouse would move on, his hatred of the author and Miliband is boring.
Anon E Mouse
Matthew Fox – That is now the second time you have lied about me in a public forum and you have made the same deceitful claims on both occasions. Ed Miliband isn’t worth a second thought – he’s useless but (again) do not accuse me of having hatred for any man.
If you think I have any dislike of any of the contributors personally on this fine blog please read any of my previous posts or just ask them. I may vehemently disagree with their articles but as possibly the longest and certainly most regular poster to the blog I can assure you that you speak with a forked tongue.
If you want groupthink Matthew head over to Labourlist. Your problem, like a lot of Labour supporters, is you know in your heart Miliband us a dud. Just watch the looks on the backbenchers and his shadow cabinet collegues.
Remember, like the members of the Labour Party, only 15% of that shadow cabinet actually voted for him…
Mr. Sensible
I read in the Guardian that Clegg wants to make disputes between Lib Dems and Tories more public!
Should be worth watching…
Spir.Sotiropoulou
RT @leftfootfwd: Top Lib Dem: Bankers' bonuses are "moment of truth for coalition" http://bit.ly/ghCH7G
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[…] Oakeshott, the senior Liberal Democrat peer, who described bankers’ bonuses as a “moment of truth” for the coalition. Reiterating Nick […]