THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Voters must stop seeking to “take revenge” on banks and accept they are vital to the economic recovery, David Cameron has said.
Signalling he is prepared to defy public opinion, the Prime Minister indicated he will reject demands for punitive action on bankers bonuses and admitted his approach could be unpopular.
Taxpayers are “rightly angry” about bankers getting huge bonuses, Mr Cameron said.
But he insisted he will not court short-term popularity by trying to “hammer” the financial sector.
Instead, he said, the Coalition will try to strike a balance between heeding calls to impose tough rules on the banks and allowing them to get on with lending to British businesses.
“It’s about getting the balance right. It’s not going to be easy and it won’t satisfy everybody,” Mr Cameron said.
"But we’ve got to try to work for that balance rather than just think, let’s take revenge on people because they’ve made us mad as hell."
City investment banks are beginning their bonus season, informing staff about their payments for 2010, with total bonuses expected to be £7 billion.
It emerged yesterday that JP Morgan, a US bank, will pay £1.87 billion in salary and bonuses to its London staff. They will enjoy an average payout of £234,180.
Other large payments will be announced in the coming weeks, including bonuses at state-owned RBS. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Golden goodbye for bank bosses: Outgoing chief executives at HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays will pocket millions from highly lucrative advisory contracts >>> Iain Dey | Sunday, January 16, 2011 (£)
