Last week was dominated by bank bosses and their bonuses. It is beyond belief that as millions of families across the country worry about keeping their jobs and paying their bills, some senior bankers should even consider rewarding themselves for failure.

As taxpayers, we are supporting the banking system to the tune of £600 billion in loans, guarantees and investments. Cash bonuses should not be paid to any senior manager at any bank which has a significant taxpayer shareholding.

But there is a balance to be struck. Those who have no responsibility for the credit crunch should not be punished for the mistakes of a greedy few who bet the bank's balance sheet. Rewarding excellence is inherent to a modern market based economy - so those in the retail branches and bankers at the frontline of keeping working capital flowing into the economy should not be ruled out from receiving proportionate bonuses if merited.

But instead of taking action on this issue, the Government response to last week's bad headlines has been to set up yet another expensive review, not reporting until the end of the year. It has been clear that bank bonuses would be an issue as long ago as October. Conservatives raised it, yet the Government has done absolutely nothing.

This speaks volumes about how the Government approaches the credit crunch and the whole recession. It is chasing headlines and desperately trying to keep up with events, rather than endeavouring to lead them.