Disingenuity at the Institute of Directors

On the one hand, Simon Walker of the Institute of Directors says he wants companies to be run in the "interests of stakeholders broadly", and on the other,asks "For whom is this institution being run?" when complaining that Barclays` bonus pool was "three times as large as the total sum of dividends paid to shareholders". (Why the bosses` union is speaking out against excess pay in the boardroom,19/08/14) The disingenuity is obvious, and Nils Pratley is mistaken to assert something`s "got into the whiskey" at the Institute.

   It seems nothing has changed in the thirty plus years, since Milton Friedman argued that a company`s sole obligation was to its shareholders.If there was stakeholder capitalism in this country, businesses would be showing more concern for everyone involved, not just those at the top, and the Institute would be criticising Barclays for its mis-selling of products to its customers, its Libor-fixing and recent reduction of Isa savings rates, with "those with Loyalty Reward Isas the worst affected"(1.6m Barclays Isa savers face interest rate cut,07/08/14) It would be complaining, too, that with the CEOs of the FTSE 100 companies now taking home "on average 143 times more than their staff", pay for all employees was far too low, and that a large pay rise would not only benefit the economy as a whole, it would simply be fair!

Clearly it`s time both for the High and Low Pay Commissions to be merged into a Fair Pay one, and for a government to be elected which actually represents the people, not just its friends in the City!