Member News
He made a clear promise: no bank bonuses over £2,000, it's still on the Conservative website. It's a promise broken.
Ed Miliband
Ed Miliband has accused the prime minister of breaking a promise to clamp down on bankers bonuses.
Speaking at the first prime minister's question time of 2011, the Labour leader said when in opposition David Cameron argued state-owned banks should not pay bonuses worth more than £2,000.
But Miliband said the prime minister was now breaking that "clear promise" after it was suggested the government would not seek to limit bonus payments.
"The country is fed up with the prime minister's pathetic excuses," he said.
"He made a clear promise: no bank bonuses over £2,000, it's still on the Conservative website. It's a promise broken."
According to the BBC, Lloyds Banking Group boss Eric Daniels is set to receive bonus of approximately £2m this year – having turned down similar payments in the last two years.
The government bailed out Lloyds in 2008 and it holds a 41 per cent share in the bank.
Calling for greater transparency on bonuses of over £1m, Miliband said that even the CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester, had "no great problem" with banks being more open about the payments.
"Let me tell the prime minister, he is now in the absurd position of being more of a defender of the banks than even the banks themselves," he said.
But Cameron said the previous Labour government was to blame for any excessive bonuses, as it bailed out the banks while asking for nothing in return, including signing a "completely inadequate contract" with the RBS that did not mention bonus payments.
"The reason we have difficulties with Royal Bank of Scotland this year is because of the completely inadequate contract that was negotiated by the government he supported," Cameron said.
He added: "What we all want to see is the banks paying more in tax, and we will see that. We want to see the banks doing more lending, and we will see that, and we want to see bonuses cut, and we will see that."
And the prime minister rejected claims by the Labour leader that the government was giving banks a tax cut.
He said the banking sector would pay £20bn in tax this year compared to £18bn of tax last year.
Cameron mocked the shadow chancellor Alan Johnson's grasp of economics and Miliband's significance.
The prime minister said Labour now had "a shadow chancellor who can’t count and a leader who doesn't count".
During a heated Treasury committee session yesterday morning, the CEO of Barclay's bank, which was not bailed out by the government during the banking crisis, dodged the question about whether he would accept a bonus this year.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.