The songwriter / punk rocker / political activist recently wrote a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling saying he wouldn’t pay his income tax until the government does something to limit the bonuses. The musician has also started a campaign on Facebook – NoBonus4RBS – to convince others to join him in the protest, according to London’s Daily Telegraph.

While Bragg is protesting bonuses awarded to bankers in the United Kingdom and the United States, he’s aiming his displeasure at the Royal Bank of Scotland, 84 percent of which is owned by U.K. taxpayers.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester recently said even his own parents think he’s over-paid.

In a letter to Darling posted on the NoBonus4RBS Facebook page, Bragg took issue with the £1.5 billion ($2.45 billion U.S.) worth of bonuses scheduled to go to investment bankers next month.

“As Chancellor of the Exchequer, you are our representative on the RBS Board,” Bragg wrote. “Before I am prepared to pay my taxes this year, I demand that you exercise our shareholders veto and limit all bonuses that RBS pays to employees to no more than £25,000 ($41,000 U.S.).

Bragg ended his letter telling Darling that any reluctance to act on his part would be “a profound failure of our democracy and a sad reflection of who really runs this country.”

Will Bragg’s protest have an effect on Bank of Scotland bonuses, or will the musician’s efforts be written off as another celeb flapping his jaws? We’re betting on the former if only because Bragg’s efforts add a human face to those opposing banker bonuses while the world struggles through a recession. Plus, there’s not a lot of love going around for banking execs these days.

However, a remark made by an unidentified treasury representative seemed to indicate the Royal Bank of Scotland bonuses aren’t entirely derived from taxpayers.

“We can reassure people there will not be a significant amount of taxpayers’ cash going to bonuses at RBS,” a treasury spokesman said, according to Reuters.

Click here for Billy Bragg’s Web site.

Click here for the NoBonus4RBS Facebook page.

Click here to read the complete article in the Daily Telegraph.

Click here to read the complete Reuters article.