Osborne lets public bank bonuses rip, despite right’s obsession with public sector pay

Green Politics

If the right were really worried about inflating public sector pay, they may want to start with the bonuses of the public sector banks

It is widely reported this morning that bank bonuses totalled £14 billion this year – the same as last year and up from £8 billion a decade ago. But falling under the radar is the fact that the bonuses paid out by the temporarily nationalised banks are greater than bonuses paid to every single public sector worker in the country.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (replicated below) shows that although just 1 per cent of the workforce work for publicly owned banks, they paid out 1.6 per cent of the country’s £35 billion bonus pool. By contrast, the public sector, which employs close to one in four Britons, paid out just 1.5 per cent.

The staggering statistics underline the capitulation by the Government on bank bonuses. Earlier this year, the Chancellor cleared the way for bonus payments to the bosses of the bailed-out banks – Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. Whereas in the past two years, the chief executives of both banks have waived their bonus payouts.

Reacting to the news, Lord Oakeshott, the former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: ‘These banking bonus figures show sheer greed.

‘Our country won’t believe “We are all in this together” until the Government gets a grip on bank bonuses.’

George Osborne should take note.

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64 Responses to “Osborne lets public bank bonuses rip, despite right’s obsession with public sector pay”

  1. StephenHenderson

    Yeah this could be dynamite if RBS has to come and get more capital from the taxpayer..like we’re shovelling money in the front door and they’re dispensing largesse straight out of the back.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-18/deutsche-bank-socgen-rbs-face-pressure-to-boost-funds-after-stress-tests.html

  2. Bruno Bear

    RT @leftfootfwd Osborne lets public bank bonuses rip, despite right's obsession with public sector pay http://bit.ly/nUG9sH writes @wjdstraw

  3. sharon barron

    RT @leftfootfwd Osborne lets public bank bonuses rip, despite right's obsession with public sector pay http://bit.ly/nUG9sH writes @wjdstraw

  4. Michael Shapcott

    RT @leftfootfwd Osborne lets public bank bonuses rip, despite right's obsession with public sector pay http://bit.ly/nUG9sH writes @wjdstraw

  5. Robert

    Come on Labour could have stopped it if Brown has stated rules for banking bonus payments before giving out the loans! he did not.

    So right now Banks will keep paying it until a new tax is brought in, but heck we even had a Labour Minister telling us we hate people being rich.

    Blaming the Tories when it should have been sorted under Lqabour, bit of a laugh

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