Bonus Culture. Has it gone too far?

Surely, the only answer to this question is yes. When Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS, can be offered nearly one million pounds on top of his salary for managing a failing bank, one would imagine the situation has now reached a state of ridicule. Particularly as the bank is 83% owned by the state, and public pay and pensions for public sector workers is being cut left right and centre. It is rumoured that Mr Hester could receive as much as eight million pounds as a bonus in the future under a long-term incentive plan that gives him a maximum of 375 percent of his annual 1.2 million pound salary, along with other share plans in place, based on RBS' recent stock price of 28 pence.

Should Mr Hester turn around the banks fortunes to enable the government to sell the bank back to the private sector, then I don't think anybody could argue the man would be due substantial reward, but until this happens it must be ludicrous to be handing out millions willy-nilly! Just about everywhere in the public sector has had to make cuts, so why should RBS be any different? There is much talk from the coalition government (which is another blog in itself!) about stamping this kind of culture out, but there seems to be little evidence of them actually doing anything about it. I would say that Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg's days in office are numbered if they do not take action soon, and I don't think you would find too many teachers, nurses, council workers or Police forces across the UK that will disagree. 

Should the TV license be abolished?

In my opinion, yes. It has had its day for sure. In the current climate of TV on demand and online, surely it is time for the BBC to follow suit and change with the times; particularly as the Christmas just gone has to be one of the worst on record for programming on the BBC. Some programmes had been repeated within 24 hours of being shown the first time! With TV Licensing collecting £3.7 billion in revenue in 2010/11* (up £99 million from the previous year*) surely we deserve a better service than this. With the BBC Trust having just completed a year long consultation on 'Delivering quality first', one should hope that TV next Christmas should be considerably better than last years, and if it is not that will surely be the final nail in the license fees metaphorical coffin. One thing that should also be taken in to account is that many people now choose to subscribe to a television supplier. In my case, the primary reason I subscribe to a TV supplier is because of the increasingly lacking amount of sport on the BBC. You would think that the programming from the BBC should reflect the public's interest, and I can't think for one minute that the public interest in sport has declined to such a degree. In recent times we have said goodbye to cricket, most top-level football (except MOTD and major tournaments), half of Formula One and professional boxing to name just a few. To its credit, there has been some good drama, and I do find that the radio output is generally very good, but is this enough to justify the fee anymore?


*figures taken from www.tvlicensing.co.uk

Parking Outrage!

It occurred to me yesterday while buying a car parking ticket, how much money is made by local councils on parking charges by either making you pay for at least one hour (or more in some cases) when you might only be in the space for ten or twenty minutes, or by having ticket machines that don't give change. Basically they are robbing you blind! 

Where else in the world would you get away with this?

I am very much a supporter of car parks where you can pay on the way out, rather than feeling like you have encountered a highwayman on your way in to town! 

Why have I set up my own blog? 

Well, as a relatively new user of social media I did not initially appreciate the right to reply that your 'friends' get on things that you really don't want their opinion on. I guess that is something I am very much going to have to get used to as a blogger!   As quite an opinionated person (as the address of this page may suggest, although I am quite a softy at heart really!) I sometimes feel the need to get things off my chest for my own benefit, and really for no other reason at all. As  you may have guessed from the title, this is kind of a Points of View in my own mind, but on all things rather than just the BBC. (I may have some opinions on the BBC as well though!)

What can you expect to hear me rant about?

I am interested in sport of all kinds, notably football but definitely not horse racing, music, politics, social issues, consumer issues as well as many other things. 

If anybody would like to interact with me regarding my musings then all interaction is more than welcome. The things I will talk about are things that I am sure most people will have an opinion on, but are not necessarily of the mindset to air their views publicly.