Two tests of Cameron's "moral capitalism"
Will Cameron block excessive RBS bonuses and strip Fred Goodwin of his knighthood?
By George Eaton Published 19 January 2012 10:11
On the day that David Cameron finally makes his long-promised speech on moral capitalism, here are two tests of his commitment to the concept. RBS, the bank, lest we forget, that we now own 83 per cent of, is planning to award its chief executive Stephen Hester a bonus of around £1.2 million, despite a halving in its share price in the last year.
"The board is unequivocal and unanimous that the chancellor does not set the bonus for the chief executive of RBS," one senior banker tells the FT. "Stephen is being urged by a number of people to accept the bonus and I think he will." This may be so (and whatever happened to George Osborne's promise to outlaw bonuses at banks that had received any sort of taxpayer guarantee?) but it rather overlooks the fact that the bank's share price has fallen 43 per cent in a year, wiping £11bn off its market value. This would indeed be rewards for failure, the practice that Cameron is so fond of condemning.
In the meantime, moves are afoot to strip Fred Goodwin, the villain of the financial crisis, of the knighthood he was awarded for "services to banking". Following the excoriating report into RBS by the Financial Services Authority, MPs are planning to refer Goodwin's case to the Whitehall body responsible for investigating whether honours should be revoked.
There's something rather unsavoury about the use of Goodwin as a sacrificial lamb to appease an offended populace, while the system that produced him remains unreformed. But being nasty about Goodwin has become a political virility test in the Westminster village.
Here's Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry:
I think honours are supposed to be for people who deserve them, and he doesn't.
Here's the Lib Dems' Tim Farron:
It was completely inappropriate that he had it in the first place. He is someone who has damaged the country by his actions.
If it had been through incompetence, we could have lived with it. But it was through utter recklessness which cost thousands of people their jobs and left us to pick up the bill.
And here's Conservative MP Matthew Hancock, George Osborne's representative on earth:
No-one has ever presided over a bigger corporate disaster that has had implications for every single family in Britain than Fred Goodwin.
The knighthood given to him by Gordon Brown is inappropriate for someone who was reckless at the helm of one of Scotland's oldest institutions.
Cameron has rarely missed an opportunity to attack Labour for its decision to award Goodwin a knighthood, so will he now take an opportunity to correct this historic error? And he will veto the extravagant bonus soon to be awarded to Goodwin's successor? If his "moral capitalism" is to have any standing in the eyes of the public, the answer must surely be yes.
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9 comments
How poor this piece is in comparison to Rafael Behr's work this morning.
It's so bad it contradicts itself.
'There's something rather unsavoury about the use of Goodwin as a sacrificial lamb to appease an offended populace, while the system that produced him remains unreformed'
One can always do more, that's not an excuse for doing nothing though. However, having questioned whether these attacks on goodwin are valid, Eaton then writes
'Cameron has rarely missed an opportunity to attack Labour for its decision to award Goodwin a knighthood, so will he now take an opportunity to correct this historic error?'
Confusing, just like the rest of the left because it reads this garbage.
Next, some more fallacious argument.
'is planning to award its chief executive Stephen Hester a bonus of around £1.2 million, despite a halving in its share price in the last year.'
Er, are u saying that if the price had doubled he'd get loads more? Because perhaps Eaton hasn't noticedbut the entire spectrum is banging on about crony capitalism, which depends on half wits linking everything to a share price. To be clear for the dim wit, if execs link their pay SOLELY to stock performance, there are 1000 tricks in which one can boost short term performance and thus get paid out , but to the detriment of the business and ultimately its employees.
Shoddy and poorly argued.
we wouldn't have the stripping of the goodwin knighthood problem if brown didn't hand it out in the first place.
how he got it only god knows.
So you're saying that the value of a company halving in a year is something that should be rewarded?
To be fair, a lot of what Eaton writes makes little sense.
Removing Goodwin's knighthood is just the sort of symbolic gesture Cameron would employ to make it appear as if he is doing something when he has absolutely no intention of doing so. PR is the only thing that counts to Cameron. Well, that and the fact that the City provide his part with 51% of their funding. So it's clear that Cameron will engage in superficial tinkering at most, rather than taking a proper root-and-branch approach to reform. reform which is long overdue.
'Moral capitalism' is an oxymoron as the past 20-30 years has shown.
This is political posturing from Cameron, nothing more, and I fully expect any 'policy' to come out of it to be all fart and no shit.
Sad thing is, it would be the same if Labour were in government as well.
Perhaps Awake! is really asleep.
He might remove the Knighthood but curb bonuses for his tory voting and contributing banker pals? No chance.
Christ alive, anyone who calls themself Awake! really is a little full of themselves. I mean is that a comment on how his/her views derive from the fact that s/he is uniquely alert, well-informed and observant in comparison to the rest of the world?
Or merely a informative statement that s/he is an insomniac? And s/he's a bit pissed off about it.
Btw it's obviously a man as women typically have better things to do than 'keep journalists honest' by making anonymous attacks on left wing sites.
'Christ alive, anyone who calls themself Awake! really is a little full of themselves. I mean is that a comment on how his/her views derive from the fact that s/he is uniquely alert, well-informed and observant in comparison to the rest of the world? '
It is referance to William Blake.
'Btw it's obviously a man as women typically have better things to do than 'keep journalists honest' by making anonymous attacks on left wing sites.'
er, this from someone called 'anon'!!!
HAHAHAHAHA
Maybe u got one of yopur mates to tell you at NS since they know my email address...
Anyway, keep attacking. Brown handed the man £15 million pounds towards his pension, a knighthood and 70 Billion of public money to keep his compoany afloat, yet let's attack cameron for trying to take away his knighthood because it's not enough- inbred logic from idealists that just pisses off people who deal with the realirties of how stuff happens...
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