Post by Neko Bazu on Jan 31, 2009 10:49:46 GMT -1
uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090131/tuk-boris-in-donate-banker-bonuses-call-6323e80.html
Bloody hell - that's got to rate among the most intelligent things I've ever heard him say!
Bankers should repay their "debt to society" in the wake of the financial crisis by donating their huge bonuses to charity, Boris Johnson said.
The Mayor of London insisted City workers had to show a "much bigger and more public sense of duty" to repair their tarnished image.
But he also issued a plea against "banker bashing" and excessive regulation, saying that risked "throwing the baby out with the bath water".
Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "My feeling is that the banks and the bankers have a job now to repair their esteem in the eyes of the public.
"I do not want to go around banker bashing, I do not want to go around regulating them out of existence, that is absolutely crazy."
He went on: "As far as they are guilty, and they are, I would like to see them assuage their consciences and do the right thing by London by giving their bonuses - and it is a disgrace that they are still getting (them) - by giving their bonuses, by giving a share of their salaries to things like the Mayor's Fund for London, for helping disadvantaged children.
"There has got to be a much bigger and more public sense of duty and commitment on the part of the bankers... I want them to pay their debt to society."
Although London's financial sector would be "smaller" after the downturn, the mayor stressed it was still vital to Britain's prosperity.
"London is the greatest supermarket for money that has ever existed and we should not throw the baby out with the bath water," he said. "No matter how hostile we may feel to bankers now, don't let us cut off our nose to spite our face."
Amid wildcat strikes across the UK over the employment of foreign workers, Mr Johnson also warned against a retreat to "protectionism".
The Mayor of London insisted City workers had to show a "much bigger and more public sense of duty" to repair their tarnished image.
But he also issued a plea against "banker bashing" and excessive regulation, saying that risked "throwing the baby out with the bath water".
Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "My feeling is that the banks and the bankers have a job now to repair their esteem in the eyes of the public.
"I do not want to go around banker bashing, I do not want to go around regulating them out of existence, that is absolutely crazy."
He went on: "As far as they are guilty, and they are, I would like to see them assuage their consciences and do the right thing by London by giving their bonuses - and it is a disgrace that they are still getting (them) - by giving their bonuses, by giving a share of their salaries to things like the Mayor's Fund for London, for helping disadvantaged children.
"There has got to be a much bigger and more public sense of duty and commitment on the part of the bankers... I want them to pay their debt to society."
Although London's financial sector would be "smaller" after the downturn, the mayor stressed it was still vital to Britain's prosperity.
"London is the greatest supermarket for money that has ever existed and we should not throw the baby out with the bath water," he said. "No matter how hostile we may feel to bankers now, don't let us cut off our nose to spite our face."
Amid wildcat strikes across the UK over the employment of foreign workers, Mr Johnson also warned against a retreat to "protectionism".
Bloody hell - that's got to rate among the most intelligent things I've ever heard him say!
Forever without exception. x
