UK should heed Obama on bonuses

As for America, so for Britain. The Government here, too, has executed a bank bail-out on an unprecedented scale for institutions led by people whose greed and irresponsibility precipitated their own downfall. Yet, to the chagrin of taxpayers, there has been no similar insistence that executive pay should be capped and bonuses curbed. Today we learn that the Royal Bank of Scotland, which received £20 billion of state aid, is planning big bonuses for its senior executives and traders. At the newly created Lloyds Banking Group, 43 per cent state-owned, it appears that senior executives sought a bonus deal for their already well-paid directors.

This will not do. Granted, the Obama restrictions on bankers' rewards are much less than first appears. The cap of $500,000 a year for salaries is not retrospective, so it applies only to institutions requiring fresh funding, and it affects only a relatively small number of staff.

Still, it is the principle that is the important thing, and the principle is that bankers should not be cushioned from the consequences of their actions if the taxpayer is bailing them out. Indeed, as Vince Cable, the Lib-Dem Treasury spokesman, has pointed out, there is a good moral, if not legally enforceable, case for erring bankers, whose institutions were rescued, to refund the bonuses they have already received.

Gordon Brown has, months ago, talked about the end of the bonus culture. But as John McFall, chairman of the Commons Treasury committee suggests, Britain should now emulate President Obama's approach. It's time to put the Prime Minister's fine words into action.

BBC's wrong call

CAROL Thatcher has apologised for referring to a tennis player as a "golliwog" during informal refreshments following the BBC's The One Show, though she emphasised that her remark was not intended seriously. Nonetheless, the BBC has sacked her from the show. Plainly, Miss Thatcher's choice of words was offensive and insensitive but in this case, criticisms of the BBC are justified.

This was, after all, a remark made in private, off-air. What matters for the BBC is what it actually broadcasts and it is on the quality of that material that it should be judged. The public indignation about obscene remarks made by Jonathan Ross during a radio programme was directed at part of the BBC's output, a broadcast show. Mr Ross, too, apologised, but he was suspended, not sacked. The disproportion between the punishment meted out to Mr Ross and Miss Thatcher is difficult to ­justify.

The BBC has encountered a good deal of criticism lately on several fronts. It remains a valued institution. But it lets itself down when it ends up entangled in arguments about its own hierarchy of values, with no bearing on its real job: providing a first-class broadcasting service.

Own goal

NOT so much red cards as red faces at ITV. Millions of viewers missed Everton substitute Dan Gosling scoring the winning goal against Liverpool in last night's FA cup replay when the channel cut to adverts in some regions. Some viewers felt adverts for Volkswagen and Tic Tacs did not wholly compensate for the clinching moment of a thrilling match. But most of us recognise that sinking feeling that comes of missing a crucial moment by accident. If you want to know the score: don't look away now.