Barclays cut back bankers bonuses as Gordon Brown joins the row

A political dispute has erupted as Prime Minister Gordon Brown has now entered the battle for deserved bonus payments.

As the taxpayer has rescued a number of banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), a spokesman for the Prime Minister today released a statement asking the nation’s bankers to ask themselves whether they actually deserve their bonuses given the state of the banking system.

The Prime Minister has highlighted that the individual bankers responsible for the financial crisis are now about to profit from the taxpayer bailout and all the parties have called for Brown to take action.

There will be a chance for a hearing tomorrow whereby the Parliament’s Treasury Committee will meet with former RBS Chief Executive Officer, Fred Goodwin, and Andy Hornby, the former CEO of HBOS Plc.

David Cameron has called for Gordon Brown to actually block payments to RBS since the government now has a 70 percent stake in RBS and a 43 percent stake in Lloyds Banking Group Plc.

Following the latest intervention, Barclays has announced that bonus payments would halve for 2008.

Many stakeholders are calling for the Financial Services Authority to take a more active role in this process and to take off some of the public’s anger over bankers.

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