Attempts by gluttonous bankers at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to hand themselves bonuses twice the size of their salaries were blocked by the government yesterday.

But the Unite union accused the coalition of hypocrisy for continuing its legal challenge against the EU cap on bankers’ bonuses — the very same legislation used to leash state-owned RBS.

Under new European rules banks require shareholders’ approval to award bonuses up to 200 per cent of fixed pay, otherwise they can be no more than a banker’s salary.