Barclays and a new round of bonus wars

Although cash bonuses have been capped at £65,000 and the total bonus pool is down 25 per cent, that still leaves £2.15 billion, £1.5 billion of it at investment banking arm Barclays Capital.

Barclays has not revealed what BarCap boss Bob Diamond is getting, although cuts to other senior Barclays bankers' bonuses suggest it might be in the region of £1 million. That is roughly the sum to which RBS chief Stephen Hester was entitled and which, after a storm of criticism, he earlier this week promised to waive.

The spectacle of a man as rich as Mr Diamond being thus rewarded - albeit for remarkable success in his field - may be hard to swallow for many struggling in a recession. But the case is not so clear cut. RBS is 82 per cent publicly owned.

Barclays, by contrast, refused direct government aid in 2008-09, even though it benefited from low interest rates and various insurance schemes. It is hard to make a case against it being free to reward staff as it chooses. And even more than RBS, Barclays has to recruit internationally.

This week has seen a Commons debate on the subject of bonuses. Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for changes to corporate governance laws to restrict them, while last month the Prime Minister said he would take action to stop bonuses of more than £1 million. If such rhetoric persuades the banks to show restraint, that would be positive.

But there is also a danger, as the Chancellor warned this week, that the hue and cry risks creating an anti-business mood. That would be self-defeating for London especially. We are a city dependent on international business, and we welcome it.

Paying for childcare

The Prime Minister's reported interest in tax breaks for employers of nannies suggests the Coalition's nervousness over middle-class parents' votes. Plans to be considered are based on a Swedish scheme that gives tax breaks to those who employ nannies and other domestic help. Already, working parents who employ an Ofsted-registered nanny can claim tax relief, but only a small proportion of such childcare workers are thus registered. The new plans would greatly extend the number of employers benefiting.

Polling suggests that the Conservatives have lost support among women voters. The cut to child benefit for higher-rate income tax payers will hit middle-class households too. They might welcome any move to reduce their childcare costs. The difficulty will be political: this is a measure targeted at a well-off slice of the population.

Tax breaks that encourage them to employ gardeners and other domestic help could be very hard to square with a message of shared austerity. We welcome efforts to reduce living costs for families. But any system to give tax breaks to employers of domestic help will have to be very carefully thought through if it is not to look unfair.

Safer cycling

Recent cyclist deaths in London are prompting a welcome rethink of policy. Today Ken Livingstone has pledged to install traffic lights that give cyclists a five-second lead: campaigners want the measure in place at 500 junctions across the city.

Meanwhile, the Mayor has promised a rethink of the notorious Bow junction, where two cyclists were killed last November: early green lights are one measure under consideration. Lights that give cyclists a start can make all the difference to their safety: this is a simple and sensible idea.

We need more imaginative thinking to make our city safer for cyclists.