Readers discuss bonkers banker bonuses, daft mortgages and how to get doctors to stay (Credits: Getty)
In today’s MetroTalk, a reader writes in to share their thoughts on HSBC CEO Noel Quinn’s whopping pay increase and something isn’t quite adding up.
Meanwhile, readers discuss the government’s plan for a 99% mortgage scheme as the Conservatives seek to reassure voters that the party is on the side of homebuyers. What could possibly go wrong?
And what could make qualified NHS staff stay put? One reader pitches an incentive.
Share what you think in the comments.
The wage gap between the top bosses and their workers continues to grow ever wider
Chief executive Noel Quinn saw his paycheck double with a £5million bonus (Credits: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
HSBC increased its profits by 80 per cent in 2023 (Metro, Thu), helped by a surge in interest rates that drove up costs for borrowers.
Chief executive Noel Quinn saw his pay packet almost double to £10.6million because of a £5million long-term share bonus. He said this reflected the company’s strong performance.
So, the chief executive sees his already eye-watering pay almost double due to factors outside of his control, while his borrowers suffer.
Once again, the myth that the top bosses have to receive such high salaries for their work is shown to be nonsense as they often benefit from factors that they have no control over.
Meanwhile, the wage gap between the top bosses and their workers continues to grow ever wider. Roy Thorpe, Manchester
‘A 99 per cent mortgage would be absolute lunacy’
Is the government encouraging a life-time debt on buyers? (Credits: Shutterstock / William Barton)
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is said to be considering the introduction of 99 per cent mortgages.
That would be utter and absolute lunacy. All that would accomplish would be to heap a whole lot of life-term debt on buyers, while effectively stoking what already is an overvalued housing market.
I’m not even sure why the government is setting these limits? Surely, it should be the Financial Conduct Authority that dictate what the maximum levels of borrowing should be.
I really wish the government would stop meddling in the housing market. All they are doing is forcing house prices up. Steven, London
Are you a doctor? Want to earn twice as much? Move to Canada
Billboards are now on display to tempt NHS medical staff to leave the UK on qualification and go to Canada. My granddaughter, in her fifth year of medical studies, is aware of similar offers from Australia and New Zealand, and I have friends whose children have done just that – going to Perth and earning high salaries and working three days a week.
My simple suggestion is that once qualified, medics should have £10,000 cut from their loans (typically some £80,000) for each year they remain working in the NHS.
Surely this is a no-brainer and would be effective immediately. Barry H White, London
‘What Maggie said was unpalatable not truthful’
What do you think about Margaret Thatcher’s thoughts on society? (Picture: In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
John Daniels (MetroTalk, Mon) refers to Margaret Thatcher having a ‘habit of saying unpalatable truths’.
She once said there was ‘no such thing as society, just individuals and their families’. That was unpalatable and it wasn’t the truth. Kevin, Watford
Poor wages force carers to leave the profession
Carers are a lifeline for those that need them but can barely make ends meet (Credits: Getty Images)
Just wanted to add my voice to those highlighting the abysmal pay of care workers (MetroTalk, Mon).
This is something I experience every day as I watch them trying to cope with a near impossible number of calls, with no allowance made for travelling time in between each of them.
I know of two carers who used to work part-time as cleaners but when the cost-of-living crisis really kicked in they left caring to work full-time as cleaners, because they could earn more.
Because they were caring people, they didn’t want to do it but it was forced upon them to make ends meet.
Two good carers lost to caring because their pay is so appalling.
Carers’ pay is a national disgrace but despite that, they will never withdraw their labour to leave vulnerable people lying in their own faeces and urine. Why? Because they are carers who believe in caring and I can say without fear of contradiction – not a single one of them is doing it for the money. HG, Maidstone
Problems abroad and at home
I travel on public transport a lot and if there is a Metro available, I will read it.
I’m always interested in the letters. It just seems a shame to me that very often people only focus on one thing whereas in reality I think a lot of things are interconnected.
Take for instance what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, DR Congo and problems at home. These are seen as separate things.
But actually they are interconnected.
If we look at conflict abroad or challenges at home we can see a pattern where real progress towards peaceful solutions has been consistently undermined by a reliance on military solutions, which inevitably fail, and an arms trade that is heavily subsidised.
At the same time we have seen all the things that make for a secure and happy society at home steadily eroded over the years: the NHS, education, housing, public transport, support for the vulnerable, and an ever widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Looks very much like two sides of the same coin to me. Kate Taylor, Thornbury
Replying to Peter and John (MetroTalk, Fri) who are against dogs being allowed in pubs. The most dangerous and annoying species in pubs are humans drinking alcohol, not dogs. Mark, Southend
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