Stephen Hester- the ultimate sacrifice!

Gordon Booth · 27-01-2012, 20:22

It takes a real man to give up £640,000 of his bonus and accept only £963,000!
Greater love hath no man for the taxpayers he works for.
Now with only that and his £1.2 million salary he's going to have to look for economies in his lifestyle.
Luckily he enjoys gardening so he should be able to grow enough food on his 350 acre estate to survive on although it means he will have less time to visit his chalet in Switzerland.
On the bright side his bonus is in shares and they have halved in value since he took over- in three years when he gets them who knows.
No wonder they say it's tough at the top!

cashman · 27-01-2012, 20:25

Yep n so much fer Cameron keeping his word.

MargaretR · 27-01-2012, 20:31

Governments don't do 'treachery' do they?

annesingleton · 27-01-2012, 21:41

The man should do the decent thing and give his bonus back, although I'm sure he won't have any concept of such an idea. I'm so angry that the tax I pay will go to fund a very rich fat cat whilst the rest of us public servants face yet another pay freeze and reduced pension for more money and everyone in the country fears for their jobs and sees their wages purchase less and less.
My mother was right -she always said vote Tory and the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It seems to me that the burden of the current economic crisis falls on the ordinary working people, whilst those who caused it and their cronies in power just carry on getting more and more money.

walkinman221 · 27-01-2012, 21:54

There are two ways of looking at this bonus thing, in one way if he can get the rbs back to a state to sell it at a PROFIT its worth paying him a bonus , but you can also say it is a moral disgrace that in these times when ordinary people are struggling that a payment of this size can be made to one man in what is basically state owned bank.

Eric · 27-01-2012, 21:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by annesingleton

The man should do the decent thing and give his bonus back, although I'm sure he won't have any concept of such an idea. I'm so angry that the tax I pay will go to fund a very rich fat cat whilst the rest of us public servants face yet another pay freeze and reduced pension for more money and everyone in the country fears for their jobs and sees their wages purchase less and less.
My mother was right -she always said vote Tory and the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It seems to me that the burden of the current economic crisis falls on the ordinary working people, whilst those who caused it and their cronies in power just carry on getting more and more money.

I think I have mentioned it before, but not many agree with me, that the rich are starting to overplay their hand. They have the economic power and have translated this into political power. They now believe that they are in an unassailable position. But I do believe they are wrong. And that the assault will begin soon.

Gordon Booth · 27-01-2012, 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkinman221

There are two ways of looking at this bonus thing, in one way if he can get the rbs back to a state to sell it at a PROFIT its worth paying him a bonus , .

If and when he does that and we get our taxes back I'd say give him the lot,he'll have been worth it.
Until then---bonus payments should be based on success, not the possibility of success.

walkinman221 · 27-01-2012, 22:07

Thats what i mean Gordon yes , when and if little big words by all means pay the guy his worth when job done.

Eric · 27-01-2012, 22:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

I think I have mentioned it before, but not many agree with me, that the rich are starting to overplay their hand. They have the economic power and have translated this into political power. They now believe that they are in an unassailable position. But I do believe they are wrong. And that the assault will begin soon.

Forgot to mention ... and it is related to the topic ... that our tory PM chose to mention at Davos

today, that his government, which is cutting jobs in the civil service and refusing opposition calls to increase taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, is planning to raise the qualifying age for old age security pensions from 65 to 67 ... arrogance, the pride that cometh etc. A quick CBC poll today revealed that 80% of Canadians are opposed to this. Arrogant sonofabitch. The right wingers are digging their own graves with their insatiable greed.

wadey · 27-01-2012, 23:09

The strange thing is the BBC gave £18,000,000 of our money to somebody to say "Tell us about your new film-book-record"

ToffeeGuy · 27-01-2012, 23:26

They always justify these bonuses by saying 'If we don't pay them this money they will leave the company or go abroad where they can earn more"

Strange that same argument isn't applied to Firemen/Nurses etc when their pay negotiations come round.

Are these bankers super human, where nobody else can do their jobs? How difficult can it be to run a business so that it loses 40% of it's value in a year?

cashman · 27-01-2012, 23:35

Its only the Tories that say that.

Eric · 27-01-2012, 23:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToffeeGuy

They always justify these bonuses by saying 'If we don't pay them this money they will leave the company or go abroad where they can earn more"

Strange that same argument isn't applied to Firemen/Nurses etc when their pay negotiations come round.

Are these bankers super human, where nobody else can do their jobs? How difficult can it be to run a business so that it loses 40% of it's value in a year?

I don't really know how much I am in favor of government ownership of business ... nationalization, ... state capitalism I suppose you could call it. But that kind of loss in one year

It would be difficult, though not impossible, for government to do worse.

jaysay · 28-01-2012, 09:57

Well at one time I worked at firms who ran bonus schemes and on many occasions I could earn more in bonus than I got paid in wages, but this guy is on a salary of £1.2 million per year and has fail to meet targets that he set, to me if you expect to get a bonus you have to earn it, which quite obviously Stephen Hester hasn't, what he should be doing is apologising to the share holders (the British Tax payer) and David Cameron should Vito this bonus, then the people would see that he is serious at reforming the banking system, sadly he hasn't done that and therefore deserves all the flack coming his way

accyman · 28-01-2012, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

Yep n so much fer Cameron keeping his word.

as much as i hate to say this it aint camerons fault.

what milliband and his mates neglected to say when speaking about how awfull this was is that it was his lot that gave him the contract that allowed this bonus and it has to be honored.

Also its not as bad as it sounds because he isnt getting the money theres stipulations attatched and it s been paid in shares which he will only get if a certain target is reached sometime around 2014 or something

i forget the details i heard them in teh car on the radio but he isnt getting a huge cash bonus in his next pay packet

not saying its right what he is getting but its no where near as bad as its been hyped up to be and like i said if any blame is to be dealt it should be at labour for making such a stupid thing possible by contract.

im sure if cameron broke that contract he would have cameron up in the european court for it somehow and end up paying more money.