Michael Meacher MP

The Hester award is far from the only case of greed out of control. It is now clear that the City, which has been lobbying hard against a weak government to ensure that any financial re-regulation is minimalist, believes that the way is now open to resume stratospheric remuneration and bonuses in the temple of Mammon. Barcap, the investment arm of Barclays, is now looking to exceed even last year’s record payments to Bob Diamond of £27m and Roger Jenkins allegedly £40m. Earlier this month Shell proposed £3.6m share awards to 5 top executives, including the chief executive van der Veer, even though the group had failed to meet the targets on which the payments were conditional. It raises two questions. Who decided these payments? And how can this slide into avarice be controlled?

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This week’s Equality Bill is probably the most important measure of this Parliamentary session, but it has been drowned out by the hysteria over MPs’ expenses. Which is a pity. Nearly 40 years after the 1970 Equal Pay Act the national gender pay gap for women in full-time employment is 17%, and even higher for women in part-time employment. Last year there was actually a slight increase. Currently there is no transparency about pay discrimination, and women cannot require their employer to explain how their pay compares to others. And a fundamental flaw at the present time is that pursuing an equal pay case to tribunal is a long, complex and stressful process which rarely delivers equal pay to women. Will the Bill remedy all this?

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