Rejoice! At last the British establishment has identified a 100% cast-iron Brexit bonus. This week, financial watchdogs agreed there need be no more limits on the bonuses paid to City bankers. The Bank of England found that “a bonus cap is not routinely imposed in other leading international financial centres outside the EU”. The cap will go at the end of this month – which, in case you need reminding, is also Halloween. From Bishopsgate to Canary Wharf, there will be no tricks this year, just treats.
Rather than all that waffle about money for the NHS, Boris Johnson really ought to have slapped that on his big red Brexit bus: “Bigger bonuses for bankers”. As parliament was prorogued, the supermarket shelves emptied of food and HGV lorries went without drivers, the entire country could have gritted its teeth and reminded itself of why all the privation was worth it: so that City folk could take home more cash at the end of another hard year. And whether in the referendum’s 48% or 52%, everyone could have rallied around the idea that it was a modest sacrifice for a great national reward.
In reality, the politics of this move are not so cheery. This week, it was estimated that nearly 4 million Britons are living in destitution, getting by on one meal a day or relying on food banks. Many of those in such dire straits will have had their misery compounded by the austerity of the past 13 years, and cuts to benefits and public services made in the wake of the giant crash of 2008 – caused by the same class of bankers, now enjoying limitless bonuses. All this is happening under a fabulously wealthy prime minister who was formerly an investment banker. What political analysts call “the optics” are truly terrible on this one.
