Simon English: Tempting fate, but let's praise honest Hester

Outlook Who is the last honest, untainted banker in Britain?

If such an award were going, no one would want it, being a surefire sign of where the next scandal was mounting.

But, with reservations, how about Stephen Hester at the Royal Bank of Scotland? He's overpaid, of course — he is a banker. But there is almost a hint of public service in trying to salvage the disaster zone that is RBS with an understanding that he is going to be press fodder for having a big house and wearing silly hats while atop horses.

He wasn't at RBS when the dreadfulness was occurring, though, and he did give up his bonus, albeit under intense pressure. And there is no doubt he is, as his chairman once said, working like stink to save the money we all have invested in the bank. So he's it.

On this basis, we can assume he is about to be arrested for shoplifting in Mothercare any day.