Thanks but no thanks Mr Hester

This week Question time was in Plymouth and as a first time voter, the most alarming story of the week concerned the ever talked about banker’s bonuses and in particular those of Stephen Hester’s.

What struck me as a first time voter, was how unified the panel seemed to be, all taking a strong view against Hester’s salary and bonus. It was however, David Lammy and Jeremy Browne who put forward the strongest cases against Hester.

Lammy immediately set a somewhat aggressive tone by saying ‘ This is a man who already has a salary of 1.2million, which then gets topped up taking it over 2 million – and we own this bank’. He ultimately condemned David Cameron’s dealing of the situation, hinting that he had good talk, but had simply done nothing about these excessive bonuses. For Hester to get a 900,000-pound top up on his salary is simply a disgrace, and is something which needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Jermemy Browne approached the topic from a different angle, and stated that he would love to see people starting up businesses, and creating wealth/jobs. If Hester did this, and made a lot of money he would have no problem. However, he reiterated that we must remember he is working for RBS, a company which is 5/6 owned by the taxpayer, and therefore Hester should act/think more like a public servant. He made the point that what Hester gets paid in 3 days, is what a solider in Afghanistan gets paid a year.

Did Stephen Hester really have to take this ridiculous bonus, or should it simply have been a matter of  ‘thanks but no thanks’? Action is most definitely needed from Cameron in the coming weeks to show the coalition won’t stand for these overly excessive banker’s bonus’s. 

Little hope for Labour with brother Ed in charge

This morning Ed Miliband appeared on the Andrew Marr show in an attempt to relaunch his party leadership for the New Year. As per usual, Marr gave a typical grilling to his interviewee, and as per usual, Miliband failed to excite or fill me with any optimism, as the leader of the Labour Party.

As a first time voter, I find it rather embarrassing and pose the question whether or not it’s only a matter of time before he is forced to step down as party leader. Every public appearance he makes, it results in an overwhelmingly, negative reaction from the general public. It strikes me he simply doesn’t have the persona or media savy skills necessary to be a leader; unlike David Cameron, who whether you agree with his views or not, can not deny that he delivers them with genuine passion as well as professionalism.

The term style over substance is usually used to highlight a somewhat negative feature of someone. However, it appears Miliband should maybe take influence from it. I believe he is suited far better to a role as cabinet minister instead of the role of leader.

With a new year ahead of us, certain questions are arising, possibly most interestingly, Is David Miliband going to make a shock return to frontline politics and attempt to overthrow his brother? As a first time voter, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if this was to be the case.