Business leaders are “filling their boots”. Second-rate executives are “ripping off” shareholders and consumers. Hefty rewards for failure “make people’s blood boil”. It’s time to throw out “crony capitalism”. David Cameron could scarcely have been plainer. It cannot be too long before the prime minister is pitching up with his tent to join the Occupy protesters on the steps of St Paul’s.
It is that time of year. London’s high-end estate agents are reprinting their glossy sales brochures. City bars are restocking with champagne. The bankers are lining up to collect their bonuses. Mr Cameron is worried about the political fallout.
This year’s bonuses, it is said, will be somewhat less than last. But the amounts will still be inexplicable to the majority of voters whose living standards have been falling. The City inhabits a parallel universe. We are supposed to forget the banks’ responsibility for the crash, the nationalisation of their losses and the pay squeeze on everyone else.