Our nation needs a thriving financial services sector. The spiritual home of the UK’s banking industry is in the City, but its importance as an employer and engine for economic growth extends throughout the land.
As the City’s MP I regard with dismay the attempts by some in public life to make banks and bankers scapegoats for the recession. We should recognise that many thousands working in this sector have already lost their jobs; others, relatively modestly paid, are fearful for their futures in finance. The great majority of bank employees are caught up in events outside their control or influence and are as bewildered as the rest of us at the collapse in their sector.
This only adds to my disbelief at reports that the directors of RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, entities which survive courtesy of huge taxpayer loans and guarantees, now propose to pay billions of pounds in bonuses to reflect performance over the last year. The public outrage at this news is entirely justifiable.
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