Thursday 24 September 2009

Goosey goosey gander

The Chancellor Alistair Darling has stunned the City of London with his new 'get tough' policy, by telling Britain's Bankers '"The party's over." This is the latest in a series of initiatives by the government to show 'who is boss' and to make it clear that this government 'means business'.

The PM Gordon Brown has previously made it very clear that he is "not happy" that bankers are paying themselves massive bonuses once more. This has had the 'big swinging dicks' and 'masters of the universe' quite literally quaking in their boots.

Of course some commentators were of the opinion that 'the party was over' one year ago when the financial markets crashed and the demise of Lehman Brothers created the world's largest ever bankrupcy. But it appears that this was clearly not the case, according to Darling. For the past three months at least the phrase 'bonuses are back' has been on the lips of everyone still employed in the City.

Some wonder whether this new 'get tough' policy might be a response to the French approach. President Sarkozy of France has suggested he will leave G20 negotiations unless a “substantial, significant and detailed” deal on controlling bankers’ bonuses is reached. Already this week, Lord Turner of the FSA has intimated that many bankers offer little to society with their complex trades. And today, Lord Myners the City Minister has called for greater transparency in pay deals.

Whether the government's new assertiveness will amount to more than a hill of beans, is unclear. No one has yet come up with a viable way of curbing excessive pay packets. And most expect Gordon Brown, despite his 'noises' to back down when it comes to the crunch (not the credit sort, but the other sort). For Gordon has always realised that the City was the 'goose that laid the golden egg' (of high tax revenue). Now, why would he want to kill that goose, even if, from time to time, the bird sprays shit all over the place - as indeed it did one year ago.

14 comments:

  1. Brown has not got the balls.... although he has the darling

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  2. Did i hear someone take my name in vain?
    Can I just let it be known that I am a little angry?
    er... hem... cough... grrr.

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  3. They are all pathetic. Nothing will happen

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  4. The only thing labour is interested in is keeping their seats in parliament, so instead of pointing out their appointees in the FSA should have regulated the banks, they blame the bankers.

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  5. I totally agree that the banks should sensibly. How about we start with Bank of England and say: No more loans for this incompetent Labour government.

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  6. There is only one way to deal with this issue - the entire global banking system has to agree new regulations. It will not work if just Britain or France does it as bankers will simply go elsewhere

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  7. These w***ers are essentially paying themselves huge salaries with taxpayers money.
    It is a scandal

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  8. Bonuses should be for exceptional success and should not be a right just because someone has reached a certain level in private or public sector. And anyway, the criteria for bonuses are a sham - just look at Network Rail for example

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  9. If we don't pay these massive bonuses, the people who caused the financial meltdown will go elsewhere.
    Now that would be a shame

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  10. Er, can I just add a little word of my own?
    Some of these bankers have... er been very generous indeed.
    Er.. they have given generously to the Labour party.

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  11. Asking bankers to show self-restraint is like asking Billy Bunter if he will do some voluntary work minding the tuck shop?

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  12. Goose only spray shit when she is given rotten food to eat...
    (Quote by Confucius)

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  13. Apparently there are some amongst the banking community who think that they can save the economy, bring it out of recession.
    It would certainly be jolly sporting if they could do such a thing in view of the fact that they screwed it in the first place

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  14. 'Trickle down', that's what its about.
    They get huge bonuses and then chuck their morsels at the rest of us grateful scum

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