So, apparently there are 5,000 bankers who will get million-pound bonuses this Christmas...

[edam]

wonder whether anyone would back my single-issue 'let's take it ALL off them and raise £5bn to pay off the national debt' party?

I wonder if their wives are all on MN. Quite possibly

it's shameful

Ah, so we could infiltrate MN HQ, get hold of list and go out and round them up? Where's Tech when you need him?

i'm not surprised.

that's why i was against bailing them out in the first place.

You can be chair of the party, expat, BoF gets to be the strategy director (given she noticed where we can get started). Now all we need is someone to be Lord High Executioner Tax Enforcer.

Cool! I'll start researching the history of mob celebrations in the wake of famous executions.

I suggest a revolutionary them, style francais.

theme

We need to look out for particularly smug threads and sniff them out...

But can you knit? Seem to recall knitting was jolly important if you were going to sit around the guillotine laughing at the nobs, for some reason. Not sure why - presumably scarves would have been in v. bad taste.

no, edam, but i'm a dab hand at basket weaving .

(Or maybe that was the point - they were knitting scarves as a revolutionary act because only the workers had necks left to wrap them round?)

Yes, BoF, consider that your first task as strategy director!

aha, I knew you had talents that would come in handy, expat!

[off to contact caterers about the availability of cake for the Romans and crusts of bread for the friends and countryment]

don't forget the loaves and fishes...

the costumes! i can't wait to see the costumes (pulls out copy of Dangerous Liasons).

I think I can spell Schadenfeude. can I come? (and if any one corrects my spelling I'll em up against the wall with the bwankers)

Get on the Style And Beauty section and see who is asking about the school-run crinoline. Or any little numbers by Alberta Ferrero Rocher or whatever.

Ah, but if the banks hadn't been bailed out, the whole economy c/would have gone tits up. Don't think there should be mega-bonuses though - especially for banks with majority control. Although many banks have had a verrrry good year.

However, a lovely chunk of most bonuses will arrive straight into the Inland Revenue as taxes. And next year's bonuses will be hit with a 50% tax rate.

I missed out 'state' from inbetween 'majority' and 'control'

You are being far too sensible, Santa. None of them deserve a penny extra, they should be thanking the taxpayer that they still have a job at all!

Now, are you volunteering for the party or not? We've got a vacancy for a Lord High Executioner that I notice no-one has rushed to fill...

'Ah, but if the banks hadn't been bailed out, the whole economy c/would have gone tits up.'

We don't know that definitively and, at any rate, we are still in the grips of a stubborn recession.

Unemployment has risen even higher.

but now the banks are under state control and paid for by the taxpayer then can we have them all on public sector levels of pay?

they might have to fall on their swords if that happens - saves a lot of hassle.

Ah, but if they're on public sector pay, they have to be on 'gold plated public sector pensions' as the DM likes to quote .

Is it going to be a party like the one at the end of the Wickerman? That would be terrible for the environment you know

gold plated pensions ha bloody ha. So that'll be averaging £5k /yr then.

Bring it on.

expat - haven't seen you around for a while (a namechanger here!) - did you sort out your housing issues?