Labour

This is a startling admission by Danny Alexander - Reeves

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to Danny Alexander's comments on Sunday Politics, said:

"This is a startling admission by Danny Alexander. For days now the Government have been constantly saying that they have no powers to stop any bonuses, but here we have an admission that Ministers did in fact look at the possibility of saying no.

"Their attempt to suggest that their hands were tied by contracts signed by the last Labour government were always untrue, and Danny Alexander has now confirmed that intervening to stop this bonus was indeed an option open to this government that it chose not to take.

"Trying to take credit for cutting the bonus to £1m at a time when families are feeling the pinch, just shows how out of touch this government is. Instead of talking the talk, it's time the government explained why they have allowed these bonuses to go through unchallenged."

"Once again David Cameron's rhetoric about responsibility has been exposed as just talk; and this government's characteristic response to the flagrant unfairness of million-pound bonuses being paid while businesses can't get loans, families struggle to pay their bills, and young people can't find jobs, is to shrug its shoulders and abdicate responsibility."