Wednesday 9th December 2009

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling delivers his pre-Budget report this afternoon and it is expected to attack bank bonuses in The City.
I'm sure most of us will be pleased with the news that these high flying bankers, who are partly responsible for the economic mess we're in, will receive a 50% tax on their bonuses. Inevitably, the bankers will kick up a fuss about having their bonuses taxed so heavily, but it is not as if they're starving. After all, this income is additional to their large salaries and it is not as if they have done such an outstanding job in the last couple of years that they deserve a huge bonus. This is why bankers now fall into that band of least respected professions, along with estate agents, politicians and journalists.
In the last year, bankers have been vilified in the press and I can't help but feel this is justified. Earlier this year, former RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin came under fire after his £650,000 a year pension was revealed to the public and "Fred the Shred" is just one of the culprits.
Banking should be like any other job, where big bonuses should be performance related and shared out only if the company concerned has been successful and with many people in the the country struggling financially this Christmas, it is absurd to think that millions of pounds will be split between a few individuals.
Darling's third pre-Budget report as Chancellor will also tackle the problem of youth unemployment and is good to see the young people without jobs are not being neglected, though it will be a tough task finding jobs for the million or so aged between 16 and 24 that are unemployed.