Adding insult to a very serious injury

As public-sector workers face another year of pay freeze, the unemployed struggle to find work, families are hit by benefit cuts and living costs continue to rise, the talk of bankers' bonuses adds insult to injury.

Having bailed out the banks with public money we are now expected to allow senior bankers to inflate their incomes despite the fact that the many are not even making a profit.

The argument goes that if we cap bonuses the bankers will go elsewhere, a notion disputed even by bankers themselves and given the economic mess they created, many of us would welcome their exodus.

It also illustrates the serious problem that the British economy is heavily dependent on finance capital, the result of successive government's deliberate destruction of manufacturing.

The EU proposal is mere window dressing. It is vital that we challenge not only this bonus culture but the economic system that gives rise to this parasitic practice.

This is why the National Assembly of Women is supporting the call for a People's Assembly on June 22.

We cannot stand by and do nothing while rampant privatisation to continues, unemployment to become structurally embedded in our economy, watch the destruction of the NHS and welfare state.

It is vital that we develop an alternative economic strategy based on growth, social justice and equality then work together in our organisations, unions and communities to transform this into a political fight for power that can bring about real change for the millions of working-class people, their families and future generations.

Anita Wright

Secretary, National Assembly of Women