TV Fat Cats
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"It's not just bankers who are feeling tthe terrible burden of their bulging wallets. Mark Thompson, the BBC's director-general, now faces open criticism from staff about his high pay, even though he has already agreed a pay cut.
Ariel, the BBC house magazine, has published a letter from Danny Carpenter, a reporter on Look North, which - careless of his own safety, you might think - suggests Thompson should take a 70% pay cut.
"In 1990, when I joined the BBC, John Birt reportedly earned £150,000 as director general, roughly 10 times the average UK salary of £13,760 (at the time)," says Carpenter.
"In 2010 Mark Thompson reportedly earned £838,000, roughly 40 times the avegare UK salary of £25,900. To restore that 1990 differential, the DG's salary would need to be cut by 70%, rather than the 25% being proposed."
Can it be long before protesting staff set up tents outside the D-G's office?
Now the film star salaries - and pensions - at the BBC are just the tip of the iceberg.
For every person earning vastly inflated salaries worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year - there are of course many hundreds of other jobsworths - earning many tens of thousands of pounds a year - a bit lower down the greasy management pole.
Fat cat salaries and pensions are not just an issue for banks and bankers - relatively speaking the problem is actually much greater - in certain parts of the public sector, the BBC being just one example.
