Labour urges more action on bonuses © Reuters/Toby Melville Labour is to warn that bumper bonuses for bankers are damaging the economy and wider society. The party will use an opposition day debate in the Commons to call for large payouts in banks bailed out by the taxpayer only to be allowed when they reflect "genuinely exceptional performance." Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna will call for a halt to what he describes as the "culture of excessive bonuses" and for greater responsibility in the City and beyond. He will argue that such lavish payouts have damaged Britain's economy and its society, as well as being bad for business. Labour are keen to continue to make the political running after Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester waived his bonus of almost £1 million following a threat by Ed Miliband to put it to a Commons vote. On Monday six senior executives at Network Rail (NR) followed suit and agreed to give up their bonuses in the face of a political storm. Chief executive Sir David Higgins announced the money will instead be paid into a safety improvement fund for railway level crossings. It comes a week after NR pleaded guilty to failings that led to the deaths of two schoolgirls hit by a train at a level crossing at Elsenham in Essex six years ago.