Decent Chaps Doing Helpful Things

The chair of Royal Bank of Scotland has put in his few millions' worth about Stephen Hester. The substance of the message appears to be that Hester is a truly sterling chap who was just trying to help, and it is not actually very helpful to kick a chap when the chap's only trying to help himself. Sir Philip Hampton also said that the Government, in accordance with its principles but contrary to ministers' statements, had not intervened to keep Hester's bonus below the psychologically magical million-pound figure; and that therefore, since there was no threat of the Government intervening, there had been no threat by the board to resign over the intervention. It was all just decent chaps trying to be helpful.

Hampton admitted that the chaps had assumed they would be selling off shares by this year, but that this was a miscalculation. The taxpayer's reward for bailing out RBS is that the taxpayer is still twenty to twenty-five thousand million pounds in the hole, thanks to George the Progressively Regressive's assiduous digging, with a bit of help from the helpful chaps. In an impressive display of tact during the week when the Government voted to cap benefits and come down harder on cancer patients, Hampton offered reassurances that the number of millionaires employed by the bank might be slightly reduced this year.