Jim Armitage: Horse sense to bring back this punishment

Outlook Above the fireplace in the gents loo of the Mansion House is an ancient sign that presumably once hung in the banqueting room. It reads: "Whosoever eats or drinks in this hall with his hat on shall forfeit sixpence or ride the wooden horse."

This equine tribulation refers to a military punishment also employed at certain good public schools in years past. The miscreant would be forced to sit astride a wooden pole with weights attached to his legs. The worse the crime, the longer the sit.

Surely, as one of her first acts in the new job, Ms Woolf could do worse than reinstate the tradition as a fitting stretch for certain financial ne'r-do-wells bringing her constituency into disrepute.

Bruno Iksil, the London Whale, for example: how long should he spend in the saddle? And what about Bob Diamond? James Crosby? Fabrice Tourre?