In praise of ... making votes count

Cameron can satisfy shareholders and taxpayers by letting it be known the bonus of Lloyds boss Eric Daniels is unacceptable

Few subjects make coalition ministers squirm as much as bankers' bonuses manage to do at the moment. More evidence of that was on offer at yesterday's prime minister's questions, as Ed Miliband branded David Cameron a "defender of the banks". Yet there is a solution to a small part of this problem: the government could use its stake in the state-owned high street banks to veto outsize pay deals. Take those stories about the bonus heading Eric Daniels' way as he steps down from the top job at Lloyds. Too persistent not to have some substance, the £2m sum reported is simply too high. As head of a bank 41% owned by the taxpayer, Mr Daniels is effectively a public servant. On a salary of around £1m, he already earns over six times more than the prime minister. Besides, Lloyds shareholders might judge that their manager really isn't worth that much. This is the man who hitched his bank to the commerical-property money pit known as HBOS – a bungled deal that forced the merged entity to go to the government for a lifeline. Mr Daniels' subsequent turnaround job has been impressive; it was also unnecessary. Happily, in this case, shareholder and taxpayer interests overlap – since they are largely the same entities. All Mr Cameron need do is let it be known that a £2m bonus for Mr Daniels is unacceptable. He would make the taxpayers' voice as shareholders count. At last: a market solution to a market problem – so what's stopping the prime minister?