A lot more equal than others

When I was a kid (and yes, I know, it was when dinosaurs ruled the earth) we were encouraged at school to read George Orwell's Animal Farm, as well as the likes of 1984 (still a date in the future then) Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and a whole host of other books from Hardy to Dickens, Greene, le Carré, Conrad to Lawrence, Sillitoe, Storey, Braine . . . American authors such as Hemmingway, Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald - the list was endless.

They weren't on the O-level or A-level curriculum but in those days English Lit was seen as much more than passing exams and ticking boxes - it was a ticket for a voyage of discovery.

But back to Animal Farm where the pigs, led by the scheming Napoleon, con, bully, spin, cajole and force their way into control and eventually condense the seven noble animal commandments for a fair and just society to just one - All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others

You may have noticed that bankers' bonuses in 2010 are expected to be at record levels just two years after those same bankers almost destroyed the world economy through a mix of criminal arrogance and breathtaking greed and while, remember, many of them are still living at our expense.

Meanwhile today Deloitte announced that executive bonuses are back to almost pre-financial crash levels.

The average directors' bonuses of FTSE 100 firms, according to the celebrated bean counters, amounted to 100 per cent of their basic salary while it hit 140per cent in the top 30 public companies.

Animal Farm was published in 1945 and I am sure all those who have lost their jobs, had no pay rise for two years, had pay cuts, seen their pension hopes crumble, live in fear of redundancy - or sacking - and are now being expected to pay the bulk of the costs of the mess created by others will be gratified to learn that 65 years on Napoleon's heirs and the herd of pigs are alive and well and defending the trough - still much more equal than others.