On a list of the most unpopular people in the UK today, city workers are probably the only group who might outrank politicians. In 2009, there was public outrage at the misuse of expenses claimed by Members of Parliament but this has since dissipated due to the fact that many of the politicians involved lost their seats in the 2010 general election, and some of them were even sentenced to prison. However, public anger towards bankers has escalated, as city workers — who would probably have lost their jobs had the sector not been bailed out of the financial crisis by taxpayers — are still receiving billions of pounds in salaries and bonuses.
According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), city bonuses amounted to £14 billion in 2010, the same amount as in 2009. Meanwhile, the fall in the banks’ share prices implies that taxpayers are currently losing more than £30 billion of the original £76 billion used to save Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland. On the basis of this figure, it is understandable that the vast majority of the public favours government intervention to curb the astronomical bonuses paid to city workers.
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