Ministers have heaped pressure on Network Rail to reject a £20 million bonus package for six senior executives in the latest row over excessive rewards for state employees. Justine Greening, the Transport Secretary, will take the unprecedented step of attending the company’s annual general meeting this week to oppose the plans, which include a £340,000 bonus for Sir David Higgins, the chief executive. The development comes a week after Stephen Hester, the chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 83 per cent state-owned, waived a bonus of almost £1 million after a public backlash. Network Rail refused to be drawn last night on whether Sir David would follow his example, saying that no decision had been made. But industry sources accused ministers of using the company as a “political football”. Labour said that Ms Greening could have gone farther and blocked the payment. The Transport Secretary said that her vote — one of 78 — could not stop the proposal. But she hoped that the “very clear signal” of ministerial disapproval would shame other Network Rail members into following suit. It is the first time in the company’s ten-year history that the Government has intervened in its affairs. “I’m going to the meeting next Friday,” Ms Greening said. “I’m going to vote against them. I don’t think this is the right time to have those sorts of decisions taken.” The package would entitle the company’s six executive d

The AA is throwing its weight behind calls to extend 20mph speed limits as a key step to improving safety for cyclists and other road users. Making 20mph the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes is an essential component of The Times’s eight-point manifesto for making “Cities fit for Cycling”. And the campaign to improve city streets gathered momentum yesterday when Julian Huppert, MP, chairman of the all-party cycling group, announced that he would table an early day motion in the House of Commons today in favour the campaign. The number of written pledges of support rose above 18,000 last night. The television sports presenter Mark Bright became the latest celebrity to endorse the campaign. Along with the double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, he encouraged his followers on Twitter to sign up. Edmund King, Pr

Western and Arab leaders are to step up the diplomatic offensive against the Assad regime after the failure of a UN resolution calling for the removal of the Syrian President. As more than 20 people were reported to have been shot dead by government forces in Homs yesterday, Western leaders began looking for ways of exerting leverage on the regime outside the confines of the UN, where action was blocked by Russian and Chinese vetos. Now the plan, together with Arab sympathisers, is to set up a body similar to the Contact Group in the Libyan conflict, which was used to channel international aid to the insurgents. “Faced with a neuterered Security Council we have to redouble our efforts outside the UN with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people’s rights to have a better future,” said Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State. The con