Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of hypocrisy for planning to cut pay checks for City bosses while calling for wage moderation in the public sector.
No 10 chief of staff Steve Barclay has reportedly written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak with a plan for ‘deregulation measures to reduce the overall burden on business’ and attract business after Brexit.
This would involve removing certain restrictions on the remuneration of directors and non-executive directors, according to a leaked copy of the letter seen by the I newspaper.
This sparked outrage from Labor and union leaders – who stressed that key workers needed to “tighten their belts” and only accept small wage increases to help control inflation.
In his letter to the Chancellor, Mr Barclay wrote: ‘I am sure you will agree that this is a more proportionate regulatory response and reflects the new approach to regulation outlined in the ‘Benefits of Brexit’ publication from January”.
The Cabinet Office minister is also said to have asked Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to come up with new measures to ease the burden on business – making explicit reference to the need to change bosses’ pay restrictions.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has confirmed that it is investigating “whether there are any unnecessary restrictions on the payment of non-executive directors in shares, which could ensure that they are fully invested”.
Confirming the plan, No 10 said the government was exploring how non-executive directors were paid, not how much – including removing “unnecessary restrictions on non-executive director share payments”.
“There are no plans to change the cap on executive pay, I think the issue being investigated is how non-executive directors get paid rather than what CEOs or CEOs get paid. administrators,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.
But Labor accused the government of using “two sets of rules” – one for high earners in the city and one for workers elsewhere.
Baroness Smith, leader of the party in the Lords, said: ‘On the one hand we are telling those in work that you have to show wage moderation. Doesn’t it seem somewhat hypocritical to tell the City that these constraints, these brakes that have been put in place must be removed? »
Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds added: ‘It’s the mark of a government that reels from crisis to crisis that instead of giving business real certainty, they are chasing after ideas.’
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady also questioned double standards. “Key workers said to tighten your belts, city leaders said to help yourself,” she tweeted. “Britain deserves better.”
Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, as the biggest train strike in 30 years began, Mr Johnson said public sector pay rises must be ‘proportionate and balanced’.
The Prime Minister added: “Higher and sustained levels of inflation would have a much bigger impact on people’s wages in the long run, destroying savings and prolonging the difficulties we face for longer.”
A BEIS spokesperson said: “As announced last month, we are looking to strengthen the rules for recouping directors’ bonuses if their business collapses to eradicate ‘rewards for failure’.
“Similarly, we are also investigating whether there are any unnecessary restrictions on the payment of non-executive directors in shares, which could ensure that they are fully invested in the success of the business they lead. If the business is fine, the administrators are fine.
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Source: www.independent.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-21 13:29:49
