BRITISH ENERGY BOSSES' BONUSES

Early day motion 263, tabled 1 December 2004 by Llew Smith (Labour). Signed by 40 members.

That this House condemns the unacceptable face of bailing out the bankrupt generator, British Energy, in its plan to offer huge bonuses of over ú30 million to senior company directors, equivalent to 14 times their already exorbitant salaries, notes that the biggest fat cats will be the legal firm Clifford Chance, the legal advisers to British Energy, which has earned ú26 million, investment banker Citigroup Global Markets at ú19 million and public relations firm Financial Dynamics, more than ú1 million, if they meet certain targets by 2008; believes Ministers are to blame for this fiasco by agreeing an unnecessary bailout of British energy using taxpayers'money in the first place in 2002, despite objections from many non-governmental organisations, including the Labour Party's own environmental campaign, SERA; agrees with Greenpeace that the public will be appalled by the remuneration offers and that this absurd deal will only perpetuate the view that the British Energy board is out of touch with reality; and calls on the Government to halt any further payments of public money to support the bankrupt British Energy.

Signatures by party: Labour 24, Liberal Democrat 8, Labour/Co-operative 3, Plaid Cymru 2, DUP 1, Scottish National Party 1, UUP 1.