LONDON BRIEFING:Comments by head of RBS will enrage people whose child benefits are to be cut, writes FIONA WALSH

‘BECAUSE WE’RE not worth it” hardly has the ring of a successful advertising campaign, but that was the frank – some might say foolhardy – admission from one of Britain’s leading bankers as he met his peers to consider how to restore the industry’s image.

Sir Philip Hampton, who heads the bailed out Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), may have cause to regret his candour as the row over the City’s bonus culture rumbles on amid new estimates that some £7 billion will be paid out in bonuses this year.

“We are paying a lot of people who aren’t worth it,” Hampton admitted, as he appeared to give up on any form of self-restraint by the banks or bankers, suggesting instead that regulation may be the only way to crack down on the bonus culture.

He made his comments at a gathering of leading figures in the banking industry, held in the heart of the Square Mile at the Mansion House, the splendid Georgian building that is home to the Lord Mayor of the City of London. The top-level summit had been called to explore ways of restoring values and trust to the City, a nigh-on impossible task given the low regard in which bankers are held.

And getting lower by the day. There’s never a good time for the boss of a taxpayer-supported bank (the government owns 84 per cent of RBS) to reveal he’s paying people even he thinks aren’t worth it, but the timing of Hampton’s comments, on the same day as it was announced that child benefits are to be stripped from more than a million “better-off” households, was particularly unfortunate.

In the case of those higher rate taxpayers who are to lose their child benefits, saving the government £1 billion a year, the definition of better off is anyone earning over £44,000 – small change to most bankers, particularly the 100 RBS bankers who were last year awarded bonuses of over £1 million apiece.

The City’s total cash bonus bill this year is forecast to hit £7 billion, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, only slightly lower than last year’s £7.3 billion bonus pot, despite the talk of self-restraint.

Prime Minister David Cameron led the chorus of outrage over the figures, saying the public had every right to be angry. This year, the government will at least get its hands on a bigger proportion of the bonus pool – just over £4 billion – thanks to the new 50 per cent tax rate on those earning above £150,000. That might be a comfort for those about to be stripped of their child benefits, but only a small one.

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He doesn’t have the celebrity status of his namesake at Marks & Spencer but news that Sir John Rose is to step down as chief executive of Rolls-Royce prompted an avalanche of plaudits for the man regarded as one of Britain’s most respected industrialists and one of our most successful business leaders.

Leading the tributes was business secretary Vince Cable, who took the unusual step of marking Sir John’s decision to retire with a public statement of praise – something he did not do for MS’s Sir Stuart or even the rather more successful Sir Terry Leahy at Tesco when he announced his retirement earlier this year.

Hailing the low-profile Sir John as “a champion of UK advanced manufacturing”, Cable thanked him for the “huge contribution” he has made to strategic thinking both within business and government on growing global market share. Sir John would, he hoped, continue to make an important contribution to the UK’s success.

He certainly did his bit for Rolls-Royce. When Sir John stepped up as chief executive of the jet engine manufacturer in 1996 – appointed by the group’s then chairman, the legendary Sir Ralph Robins – its order books were standing at £7.6 billion; today they are £58 billion. Its annual sales have climbed from £3.6 billion to more than £10 billion and profits are five times higher at £915 million. The group employs 38,500 worldwide, a lower number than in 1996, but 22,000 of which are still in the UK.

Sir John, who is 57, will not be short of offers when he leaves next March. From the sound of Vince Cable’s glowing tribute, a government position would be his for the taking too.

Sir John’s glittering career is all the more remarkable when you consider that his first calling, before he joined Rolls-Royce 26 years ago, was as a banker.

How different his career would have been had he not made the switch to manufacturing – or how different banking might have been if he’d stayed.

Fiona Walsh writes for the Guardiannewspaper in London