No ifs, no buts - give up the bonus - sign the petition

Are there similar plans for discredited government ministers to pay back their salary for the year in which they remained in their posts despite being a let-down to the electorate and their party?

Irene. That's a bit strong isn't it - you are talking about the ruling elite here. One rule for them and another for those that pay their wages. How many benefit fiddlers have been sent to prison in London in the last 5 years? Why does the Home Sec. and many others think they are entitled to skim off our taxes and feather their nests X 2.

why don't you use your real name Isaac? Yours seems to be a pseudonym

I work for RBS as a simple clark, in the last 3 years a received £185.00 as pay rise, I actually had to accept a down grade 2 years ago when the business sector restructured; so much for the Union!!. For years the government has been more than happy to let bank bosses to do whatever they wanted in the global market, including Mr Prescott, as they benefited profusely from it. Now Gordon Brown proclaims himself as a saviour of the economy and Mr Prescott shouts disgace for bank bosses bonuses. Where have you been the last 10 years? There are some colleagues at my level that have not received a pay rise in years, hve lost lots of money that they invested in years in shares through the company's scheme and now they are left with nothing. We have always disagreed with mega bonuses, especially as we were not included in sharing the pie. I am more than happy with the petition but, as a tax payer and as a 70% government employee, should I not now receive a civil servant pay rise of at least 2.5% as every civil servant gets?

Yes but do you realise lowly civil servants unlike lowly bank workers don't get free or reduced cost shares,special rate mortgages - company paid christmas parties, free pens and all the other perks you are used to.Also remember public servants don't get 2.5 per cent of 4 million as our pay rise. Don't give up your cushy bank seat to join us mate you could be jumping from the frying pan to the fire.

It is not just the Bankers. Pay of Company Directors has outstripped that of workers by obscene amounts over the last 20 years. Shareholder pressure and Remuneration Committees have done nothing to stop this. We need an "Excess Pay Tax" charged on companies who overpay. Where remuneration to one person exceeds certain limits EPT should be paid. I suggest:- 25% on amount over £250,000: 50% over £500,000: 100% over £1,000,000

Would you agree that Gordon Brown's 'light touch regulation' played a significant part in the extremely lax monitoring of excesses in the financial industry ? Also, removing the Bank of England's traditional oversight of all financial institutions in 1997 and creation of a useless FSA compounded matters ? Remember too, that the 'Prawn Cocktail Offensive' in the early 1990's encouraged the City to pull more wool over Labour's eyes.

It is about time now, the public transferred funds to other banks where these bonuses are controlled.
Once the RBS pay these bonuses, I will be transferring my accounts to help genuine banks.
I hope RBS close down altogether.

Whats your defintion of a genuine bank? I think you will find that all banks have been affected to some extent - maybe the real culprits are the bosses of the banks and not the staff on the floor - the majority of bank workers dont get huge bonuses - certainly the likes of Fred Goodwin deserve nothing more than a slap in the face for his stupid decision to take on ABN AMRO.

If you're thinking of switching bank accounts, I'd highly recommend the Co-operative Bank. They never have (and probably never will) give massive bonuses to individuals and aren't ruled by profit hungry shareholders.

It proves that banks need not be lead by irresponsible multi-millionaires with no morales.

Yes and you talk of bankers ripping off the taxpayer, how about you and all the other MPs trousering huge amounts of taxpayers money in expenses and other perks. My wife and I live on a modest pension and have to 'balance the books' on a daily basis, yet we still pay tax on it. You call yourself a socialist - you and your fellow MPs are a disgrace.

At least use your real name.

He's right its nothing but a scam. Bank/Financial Institutions employees of any level getting bonuses is not acceptable it is crazy it is just taking the mickey out of British people. I think that we the people need to vote with our feet, if the bonuses in any form go ahead then move your money into a more responsible bank. Additionally the support funding for the banks should not have been done, the money should have been fed into the system via the "bottom" i.e. the people, they spend it on whatever, so companies keep manufacturing, shops stay open, and at the end of the day the money ends up in the banks, and that would be the banks of the peoples choice. Time the politicins thought of the people and not the profits of mega rich companies.

Shouldn't we petition to have the name of the bank changed too? To something more accurate?

The Royal Bank? Hmmm maybe not...

How about the "Mainly English Bank"?

After all the majority shareholder is the English tax payer (I do mean English btw not British).

What do you think?

I think you need to remove your blinkers Jason.Your biggotted ignorance over who pays the most tax in the UK needs serious investigation. You should be fighting for independance from Scotland as it seems to me you are a little bit afraid of the very name 'Scotland'. Pity most of the people running England are Scots.

I support this campaign, but do you realise that people have to pay to sign the petition?

That's likely to put many people off.

you don't have to pay. it's a free system that asks for donations, but once you're at the point where it's asking, you have already signed the petition. this confused me when i signed the petition

alex

John,

You have it all wrong - the senior managment in the banks have done a fantastic job.

They were running basket case busineses, their shareholders were going to lose everything, the firms were going to collapse and the management were going to be unemployed.

But, being *geniuses* they managed to raise massive extra investment so their existing shareholders could get out with out too much of a loss and they could keep their jobs, and their businesses could keep running.

Who were the suckers they found to make this massive investment? It was Gordon Brown - using our (taxpayers) money.

The senior management of the banks deserve the biggest bonuses imaginable for pulling off such a massive scam.

I absolutely agree.The fact is everyone was telling lies about all the financial transactions they were doing.The credit ratings agencies should be investigated for giving these banks the green light to go ahead with dodgy deals and rubber stamping their products.
We were hearing of many banks denying exposure to this kind of dodgy accounting -but then having to own up to it.
We tax payers have been told for so long that the london square mile finances this country -ha!
Let's all boycott the banks and go to mutuals (co-op being a very ethical one)
We also should not trust Gordon brown to run the country with him giving out money left right and centre.
Let's privatise the rest and cap interest rates.We also need to look at the labour and conservatives with cynicism and vote for Liberal democrats who have been on-the-ball during this big fiasco!!

Mark (and John)

If you want to see the future of banking see 'the mutual society for the internet age' at 'www.zopa.com'.

The government were stupid to give taxpayer money to the banks, they should have lent it to people via zopa, or set up their own identical site.

Sorry to all socialist dinosaurs -- it doesn't need many admin staff...