UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling’s confirmation in the pre-Budget report of a new one-off banking bonus supertax to be levied on individual discretionary awards worth more than £25,000 (€27,569) on the one hand drew a line under debate over the Government’s plans to curb payouts, but it also raised fresh questions.

Financial News has compiled reaction from City experts and politicians to the new levy, which a UK Treasury spokesman said is estimated to affect bonus awards for roughly 20,000 staff working across the UK financial services sector, below: