High Pay

This argument about RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester's bonus of £963,000 on top of his salary of £1.2m ......

Why does anyone need to be paid more than (say) £240,000 a year?

That's about 20 times the minimum wage.

I am all in favour of people being paid more for doing more. But isn't there enough room for performance-related pay between £12,000 and £240,000?

At a salary of £240,000 you can't buy anything that someone earning £24,000 can't buy. You can only buy more expensive versions of the same thing, or more copies of them. And the reality is that many things are given a high price just to make them attractive to people with more money.

Whatever about unfettered salary levels in the private sector nobody in the public sector (paid or supported by the taxpayer) should be paid more than 20 times the minimum wage. It should be a badge of honour for senior politicians and public servants to serve the public in return for a modest salary.