PRESSURE was mounting on UK and Scottish ministers last night to try to save hundreds of banking jobs.
The demands followed an announcement by the Lloyds Banking Group yesterday that it would shed 1,200 more jobs.
This brings the total number of redundancies at the new super bank, which is still mostly owned by the taxpayer, to more than 8,000.
And it follows revelations by The Scotsman earlier this week that Scottish Widows, part of the Lloyds group, is to make 250 staff redundant.
Yesterday Scottish Widows staff left briefings on their future grim-faced, with some accusing management of "betrayal" and admitting that they feared for their futures.
The theme of betrayal was picked up by the Unite union, which represents many of the bank's staff, including those who worked for HBOS, which was controversially taken over by Lloyds at the end of last year.
The union called for a freeze in the expansion of work done abroad by the bank because of the "uncertain future" faced by UK employees.
National officer Rob MacGregor said: "Unite views the weekly cull of jobs a disgraceful approach by this taxpayer-supported financial institution.
"Staff in the IT, life and pensions and operations departments face the reality that Lloyds is operating centres abroad while they are told that their jobs are redundant.
"It is essential that these taxpayer-funded institutions are radically overhauled."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott MSP described the announcements as a "real blow" for Lloyds workers and the Scottish economy.
"The blame for these job losses lies squarely with Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown," he said. "It is time they take responsibility for this shambles and start doing everything possible to prevent further Lloyds job cuts in Scotland."
He also asked what the Scottish Government was doing to try to save jobs.
Finance secretary John Swinney said that the Lloyds announcement was "disappointing."
He said that the bank held talks with First Minister Alex Salmond on Wednesday and "is clearly in an ongoing process of rationalisation" which is having an impact on employment across the UK. He added: "This will no doubt be a difficult time for those affected and I can assure them the Scottish Government stands ready to do all it can to help."
Meanwhile, in a further blow to Scottish jobs, the future of 90 posts hung in the balance last night as mobile phone software firm Picsel fell into administration. The firm, which employs 90 staff at its Glasgow headquarters and supplies content to mobile phone companies, has been taken into the hands of PricewaterhouseCoopers after suffering cash-flow problems.
BROWN SIGNALS BANK PAY ACTIONPROPOSALS to curb the vast salaries paid to bankers and to delay their bonuses to prevent excessive risk-taking have been signalled by the Prime Minister.
Gordon Brown welcomed interim proposals by financial expert Sir David Walker to prevent a repeat of the credit crunch.
Sir David, a former director of the Bank of England, was asked by the Treasury to suggest reforms of the banking system. He called for the bumper salaries of bank executives to have to be approved by internal remuneration panels, with salary bands published in annual reports – something most institutions do already.
Mr Brown said the proposals – allied to tougher rules being planned by the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority – "fundamentally change the environment in which bonus payments are made".
Referring to the Walker report, which will be finalised in November, Mr Brown said: "He makes some very clear recommendations which I believe will be adopted.
"There have been excesses, it is seen by the public as irresponsible and unfair. We have got to take the action."
The Liberal Democrats welcomed plans to make bankers' pay more transparent, comparing the moves with the exposure of MPs' expenses. But the Tories said the proposals were inadequate.
Sir David's report criticises the weakness of many boards – including RBS and HBOS – saying non-executives were inadequately trained to stand up to powerful executives. It says non-execs should work harder for their money.
"Bonus schemes contributed to excessive risk-taking by rewarding short-term performance. And shareholders failed to exercise proper stewardship," he said.
Mark Hoban, the Tory shadow financial secretary, said: "The government's regulatory response to the financial crisis is totally inadequate. Another committee and another voluntary code of conduct will not do."
The full article contains 738 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
