British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to give shareholders the right to veto executives’ pay packages, amid mounting political pressure and public anger over huge salaries and bonuses.

With Britons bracing for a tough year amid a gloomy economic outlook and the politically charged bank bonus season approaching, Cameron took a tough line on sky-high salaries in a Sunday newspaper interview.

He called for the end of the ‘merry-go-round’, where highly-paid bosses sit on each other’s boards and approve pay awards.

‘The market for top people isn’t working, it needs to be sorted out,’ he told The Sunday Telegraph.

‘Let’s empower the shareholders by having a straight, shareholder vote on top paid packages.’

The comments came amid growing political pressure for the government to prove it is serious about tackling so-called ‘fat cat’ pay, with repeated calls from the opposition Labour party leader for action.

Despite repeated controversies over bosses being handed huge payoffs even in cases where companies have failed, currently shareholders can only express their disapproval through an advisory vote.

No details have been agreed on how the new arrangements would work, but they could form part of reforms being worked on by business minister Vince Cable, which would require legislation.

He is due to […]