May drops proposed changes to corporate pay rules

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government dropped plans to clamp down on executive pay and give workers a greater say on their company’s strategy when it set out its policy agenda on Wednesday.
May had previously set out plans for the state to take a bigger role in corporate Britain, saying that shareholders needed to approve executive pay at annual meetings in a bid to curb mounting anger over the soaring level of pay for top bosses.
But chastened by an election result that left her Conservative Party short of a majority in the Parliament, May watered down many of her pledges.
The government agenda, however, did stick to a proposal to intervene in any foreign takeovers of infrastructure that affect national security and said it would seek to tackle the gender pay gap.
May had previously set out plans to subject executive pay packages to strict annual shareholder votes and said listed companies would have to publish the ratio of executive to average pay, if she was re-elected.
The British premier had also said listed companies would have to either nominate a director from the workforce, create a formal employee advisory council or assign specific responsibility for employee representation to a designated non-executive director.
British economy
Britain’s economy will slow in the coming years, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned Tuesday, blaming domestic political turmoil — and the impact of Brexit one day after EU divorce talks began.
The economy will expand by 1.6 percent this year before slowing to 1.4 percent in 2018, according to upgraded forecasts from the CBI, after 1.8-percent growth in 2016.
The CBI, which is Britain’s biggest employers’ grouping, also cited fallout from this month’s inconclusive general election.
“The UK is expected to see steady but subdued economic growth over the next couple of years,” it said in a statement.
“The economy continues to face headwinds, with ongoing political uncertainty and Brexit negotiations, which will require careful navigation by business and the government.”
The latest growth forecasts marked upgrades from prior guidance of 1.3 percent and 1.1 percent, for 2017 and 2018 respectively.
“Growth should be steady, if restrained, over the next couple of years as the pace of the economy shifts down a gear,” said CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn.
“While the country’s exporters should emerge as a real catalyst for growth, rising inflation and stubbornly low wage growth mean that people are already starting to feel the pinch.
“So, after a frantic period in Westminster, this is the time for a renewed focus on the economic fundamentals of this country.”
Britain and the EU finally kicked off formal Brexit talks in Brussels on Monday, vowing to work constructively for a deal despite disarray in London over whether to go for a “hard” or “soft” divorce.

Source: Arab News