Bankers have been getting away with it for far too long

REGARDING the disgraceful actions of Barclays and other large banks rigging the financial climate, it is only right and proper that CEO Bob Diamond resigned (Yorkshire Post, July 4).

For far too long, senior executives of large corporations have been getting away with avoiding taking responsibility for their companies’ actions.

There is no doubt that we have allowed a culture to grow in the financial sector where senior executives talk their way into huge salary deals and yet appear to ignore the morals of accountability – many failing their shareholders yet contentedly walking away with golden handshakes, million-pound severance packages and pension rights that even MPs can only dream about.

More to the point is the message that this culture sends to those of us below who depend on these people: that in most cases dishonesty reaps rewards even when found out. It appears that the larger the company, the more immune their executives seem to be to being sacked or prosecuted.

Years ago, being a politician or being involved in banking meant automatic respect because in general these folk were honourable people doing honourable jobs. However, over the last few years, we have seen so many of these icons fall foul of greed.

No doubt Bob Diamond will walk into yet another highly-paid job in the financial sector, with companies eagerly queuing up to employ him irrespective of either his past failure or indeed his moral outlook.

From: Terry Marston, Lincoln.

The two major parties are wasting our time over the banking shambles.

As PM, Lady Thatcher was content to rest aloof while British manufacturing, once the cornerstone of our economy, declined and faded; not a policy pursued by the German government. As replacement, she put her faith and our future in the services of the City of London and the taxable profits it generated. Successive governments dared not rock that boat because there was nothing to replace the “Golden Goose”.

Today, all the news commentators tell us that the international reputation of our banking is in ruins. They could be right. I for one wouldn’t be in favour of entering into a contract with what appear to be villainous fixers. If foreign bankers and businesses should take the same view, whence cometh the profits and the taxes?

From: Peter Asquith-Cowen, First Lane, Anlaby, Near Beverley.

FOCUS should be on the corrupt banking system and over-paid fat cat executives, and corrupt politicians – not on the pensioners. Just three years to go and where will we all be then?

No pensioner with any brains is going to vote to lose their bus passes or similar ‘concessions’ (Yorkshire Post, July 2). There’s a lot of over-50s out there who will vote to preserve their pensions and lifestyles.

Only an idiot would vote this coalition Government back into power. Britain needs sorting out, but let’s start with the politicians and the bankers who caused all this.

They are to blame and their practices are far from “transparent” – a word bandied about by Tony Blair, almost to extinction – anything but transparent, as recent history has shown.