Hit Sir Fred with tax bill
All over the country, thousands of people are losing their jobs, their homes, their final salary pensions, facing the most unimaginable problems.
Compare that misery with the insane nonsense we are hearing from Sir Fred Goodwin, who apparently sees nothing wrong with keeping his 693,000 a year pension.
I should imagine there are very few people in this country who can think of any good reason why he should retain his ridiculous lifestyle.
Except, that is, the merry band of greedy individuals – whether they be bankers, speculators, politicians (who see nothing wrong in twisting their expenses claims to extract thousands of pounds to which they are not morally entitled), and directors who have sat in their boardrooms year after year awarding themselves pay rises far, far above those of their workers.
Greed has been the order of the day in Britain and the USA, for far too long.
It has produced a generation which has put self-interest before anything else, and, as a result, society has lost so much.
The board of RBS agreed Sir Fred's early retirement and his retirement package.
His pension was apparently approved by Lord Myners.
To attempt to unravel it, as the government would love to do, would be unlawful and would set all manner of precedents.
You simply cannot ignore contracts and laws just because you don't like them; government ministers know that and shouldn't suggest otherwise.
All that does is create anarchy. And you can't introduce a "we hate Sir Fred" law just to deprive him of money – just think where that could lead.
Crackpot Prescott suggests Sir Fred is paid just part of his pension and let him sue for the rest. This is about the most stupid suggestion I have ever heard.
Just imagine when it got to court and the government lost. Sir Fred would have a field day with costs and damages.
How much better would it be if the world finally came to its senses and set a ceiling on how much wealth a person should morally have.
I would suggest that morally, no-one is worth more than 250,000 a year in earnings or pension. Anything over that level should attract a near 100 per cent tax.
This way, Sir Fred's excessive pension could be clawed back in tax, and there would be nothing he could do about it.
The greedy one per cent of the world with their wealth and excesses should be taxed to the hilt and the money used to help those who are now struggling.
The recession could be used to bring about a new order. But it won't, because those making the laws and enforcing them are the ones with their noses in the trough.
So they will huff and puff at Sir Fred, but nothing will change – sadly for the world and the next generation.
Until now, there has been a reluctance, except from the Labour left, to use the tax system as a "social leveller", but perhaps the time is fast approaching when the public accepts that this is necessary.
It appears that people are now appreciating what uncontrolled greed does, not just to this country but the whole world.
A radio programme last week saddened me. A woman from a charity was being interviewed about trying to persuade the super rich to part with money.
She reluctantly had to admit that the only way to extract money from them was to make it worthwhile for them.
It seems that for some, the only motivation is to amass more and more money regardless of what this does for anyone else.
Of course, there are those who have money and are generous. There are many that don't and are causing real harm to the world.
People may suggest that this is politics of envy, but I suggest it's time to act.
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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