Evening Star Column - 31st January 2012

One of the unpublicised (and deemed unglamorous) aspects of Parliamentary life is sitting through delegated legislation committees. These are to review Statutory Instruments which, in my experience so far, are voted through with no opposition. The meetings usually last all of about 20-30 minutes and only 2 people speak - the Minister and his/her Shadow - so they can be seen as a bit of a chore. Two memorable ones were the increase in the minimum wage and the raising of the subsidy for Post Offices to £500 million. This week, I substituted for a colleague and arrived to be told it would go the full scheduled 90 minutes. (I knew I would be seeking a large glass of wine from my colleague in compensation.) However, it proved to be very interesting as it concerned the arrangements for the new Police and Crime Commissioner. This is the role taking over from the Police Authority and will be elected this November. It is going to be a full-time leadership role and will play a key role in the strategy and prioritisation of tackling crime. It is important to include safeguards to ensure there is no interference with the Chief Constable and his leadership of the police force. If anyone is interested in standing for this role, do get in touch but there is some more information - www.homeoffice.gov.uk/police/police-crime-commissioners/

Having secured a debate on Network Rail with other colleagues, no surprise then that senior management were keen to meet me in advance of the debate. It was a useful exchange and it seems changes are underway already both on internal operations and also preparing with the new franchisee Abellio. I took the opportunity to discuss the issue of Network Rail's objections to the Academy and the insistence on siting a footbridge off Runnacles Way. I hope that these difficulties can be overcome and that Network Rail will continue to improve the service for all users.

The big political story of the weekend was the decision by the Chief Executive of RBS (Stephen Hester) to not claim his bonus. He also waived his bonus last year. I am supportive of paying appropriate rewards for success - which may well be considerably more money than you and I both earn in a lifetime. I think what is difficult to understand is that bonuses are being awarded when the value of the bank (both its asset value and equity values) have dropped significantly - which does not obviously indicate success. When it comes to profit and loss, in 2010, RBS made a loss of £1.1 billion, better than the loss in 2009 of £3.6 billion and far better than the £24.3 biillion loss in 2008. 2011 full year results are not yet out but it seems that for the first time since the crash that RBS will make a substantial profit. That is why the RBS board felt justified in awarding a bonus, according to Stephen Hester's contract. Of course, Labour have gone for the kill on this and to a large extent has won. However, who set up the contract? Labour. Who negotiated the effective take-over and chose not to change other contracts? Labour. Who was in power when Stephen Hester was awarded a potential bonus of £6 million? Labour. Dealing with paradox is something all politicians have to do but sadly, this smacks of hypocrisy. What's the solution? I think Stephen Hester should get his big bonus when the bank has been profitable for some times and the government has sold its shares. By then, RBS will have been turned around and he will truly deserve a bonus. Otherwise, the taxpayer is unlikely to ever see a financial return on the RBS bail-out.

It was a great close to the week at Felixstowe Spa with a charity concert organised by Felixstowe Radio in aid of EACH. The theatre was packed out which was no surprise with the attraction of X Factor winner Matt Cardle. I spotted Matt arriving in a small car to be greeted by some hardy Felixstowe fans who gave a bit of a whoop rather than a full-on scream. The rest of the line-up also performed well with some toe-tapping stuff. In addition to talent already known around Felixstowe, Cediq Havana got the crowd going and a lot of interaction.

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