U.K. Labour’s Miliband Says Bonus Attack Isn’t Anti-Business
February 10, 2012, 4:45 AM ESTBy Robert Hutton
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband will accuse Prime Minister David Cameron of intervening only “haphazardly and belatedly” to cut bank bonuses and say that attacking high pay doesn’t make Labour anti-business.
“It is pro-business to demand responsibility at the top and an end to the something-for-nothing culture which has damaged our economy in the financial crisis at every level, wrecked businesses and left everyone else squeezed,” Miliband will tell an audience of academics today in Sheffield, northern England, his office said.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warned two days ago that an “anti-business culture” would damage Britain, arguing for an economy “built on rewards for success.” He was speaking as Labour lawmakers voted after a debate in Parliament for all banks to cut their bonuses, on the grounds that excessive pay is hurting the country.
Stephen Hester, the chief executive officer of state- controlled Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, said yesterday he considered quitting during a political dispute over his bonus, which he decided to forego at the end of last month after Labour called for a debate in Parliament on the payout.
Miliband will reply to Osborne today by saying that “by defending an unreformed bonus culture, this government confuses the interests of the economy as a whole with the interests of an irresponsible few.”
--Editors: Eddie Buckle, Jennifer M. Freedman
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net.
