It is difficult to think of a better way of reigniting the moral outrage at fat cat bankers than for the chairman of a lender that is majority-owned by UK taxpayers to say that the bank’s chief executive is “modestly” paid.

So when Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said as much at a recent parliamentary hearing, another round of "Hesteria" ensued as people lined up to make angry comparisons between Stephen Hester's "modest" pay and that of nurses, teachers and social workers.