Billy Bragg has taken a stand against British bankers earning excessive bonuses in the midst of an economic downturn. Indignant that high-flying bankers should be paid more in bonuses than the average citizen earns in a year, Bragg has called for Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling to set a limit of £25,000. The singer is especially outraged at the Royal Bank of Scotland paying its chiefs bonuses, as it was one of the banks saved from financial ruin with taxpayers’ money.

As well as setting up a protest group on Facebook called "No Bonus 4 RBS", Bragg has said that he won't complete his tax return for 2009 until Darling takes action. The group already has more than 31,000 members, and urges taxpayers to write to the Chancellor. "If nothing else, we may discover if people in this country care more about bankers bonuses than they do about who will be the Xmas No 1," he said, referring to the recent anti -X FactorFacebook campaign.