The hullaballoo over executive pay is all a veneer. It’s politics as usual. Everybody knows that there is a market rate for the job and if you can command a big salary good luck to you. Of course boardroom pay rises have far outstripped those for the flat cap wearing lumpenproletariat who push buttons and levers or work in call centres these days. That’s because it is a different market isn’t it? It’s apples and oranges. What people are really hacked off about is rewards in spite of failure. It smacks of snout in the trough syndrome – get what you can because nobody is willing to stop you. And that’s the point, it is about willingness not the ability to do so. But let’s look at an area where bonuses are paid for performance where there is no such thing as performance. Yup, you’ve guessed it – the public sector. The deal is that you work for donkeys years in the public sector and get a high pension and an OBE. So can somebody explain why NHS managers get bonuses, the prison service managers get bonuses. The list goes on and on and on. Company registration agents don’t get bonuses and it’s not fair!