Taxpayers lose £900m as RBS shares fall Labour MPs are planning to call for a tax on bank bonuses in the House of Commons next week, with senior sources in the party saying the debate will be "about more than Stephen Hester." Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said: "The Government has dragged its feet, has nodded this bonus through, and I think we have seen that they have got a completely tin ear when it comes to understanding what people are feeling. "I don't think this can be just a one-off episode, because if we don't deal with this systematically, if we don't deal with the issue of bankers" bonuses in a proper way, this kind of thing is just going to re-occur." But Lord Myners, the former City minister, warned Labour not to seek scalps or put itself in a position where it is hostile to business. The Labour peer, a Treasury minister when RBS was rescued, did, however, praise Mr Miliband for his lead. "At some point, somebody has got to say 'look this has just gone too far,"" he said. Royal Bank of Scotland is different from other banks because it's publicly owned. It may be a private company but it's 82 per cent owned by the taxpayer. And this problem will keep coming around year after year until the government has ceased to have a controlling interest. He added: "The board of directors can quite simply say 'we can no longer justify these very high rewards for bankers." It's not as profitable as it used to be, we're slimming the bank down, and therefore we have to be much more realistic in terms of what we pay. I think that should apply across the whole banking sector. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, suggested other bankers should follow Mr Hester's example. I think it's a good step to dealing with the bonus culture more generally. I'm not dictating ... but I think he has set a good example," he said. I think that more generally in the banking sector we have got to see more of a sense of perspective. He described it as a positive step towards curbing the bonus culture. He added: "RBS should now focus on what the bank should be doing, which is lending to good British companies." Downing Street said ministers will not attempt to "micro-manage" the largely state-owned bank. A Number 10 spokeswoman said: "These decisions are decisions for the board, in terms of who gets a bonus and what they get. The Prime Minister has made very clear that bonuses should be responsible. It was "a matter for individuals" whether they choose to accept any bonus they are offered, she said. She added: "Reward for good performance is not in itself a bad thing." There was also fresh concern about the way banks are monitored, after the head of the Financial Services Authority said the regulator had been "grossly inadequate and totally unacceptable" in the years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008. Hector Sants took over as Britain's top financial regulator shortly before the taxpayer had to bail out the banks. He told the Treasury select committee that he had tried to blow the whistle about the failings of the system but admitted he could have "shouted louder" about his concerns. He claimed there was nothing he could have done to stop RBS from taking a "risky gamble" on a big business deal that eventually led to its downfall after he took over in 2007. Mr Sants said regulators needed more powers to stop figures such as the former RBS chief Sir Fred Goodwin, whom he accused of "serial misjudgement," from working in banking again. The authorities also needed to be able to block deals that would have a "reasonable chance" of causing the failure of a bank. He said he was "truly sorry" that small shareholders in RBS had lost money when the bank failed three years ago. The select committee said it would examine whether Mr Sants was fit to take on a new role as head of the reformed banking regulator. Andrew Tyrie, its chairman, said: "The committee will need to digest the evidence we have heard. We will be holding a confirmation hearing with Mr Sants in due course with respect to his appointment as chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.