David Cameron has slammed Britain's top bosses for awarding themselves a massive 49 per cent pay rise in the last year.
Business chiefs at the UK’s top 100 companies can now expect to take home an average £2.7million as households suffer the biggest squeeze on incomes since the 1920s, according to new figures.
The massive salaries are 113 times the national average of £24,000 for a worker in the private sector, where salaries have risen just three per cent in the last year.
Anger: David Cameron, in Perth, Australia today for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, considers the news about fat cat pay from the UK
'We need all these figures published and known so that we can compare and contrast, so shareholders know what they are paying for.
'We need accountability to strengthen the hands of shareholders so that they feel they are taking responsibility for remuneration in the boardroom.
'This is a concerning report, particularly at a time when household budgets are very tight and people have difficult circumstances.'
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He called for 'transparency, accountability, responsibility' in boardroom pay, urging that all awards must be justifiable.
The City of London: Fat cat bosses and bankers can expect bumper bonuses despite the rest of Britain feeling the squeeze
'Everyone, whether they are in public life, whether they are in private enterprise, they all need to be able to justify the decisions they make about pay,' he added.
The extravagant pay packages enjoyed by every member of the boardroom, from the chief executive down to far less high-profile roles, were revealed in research by Incomes Data Services (IDS).
Other directors enjoyed the largest rise, as they took home 66.5 per cent more in pay and perks, to the tune of £2,260,033 on average.
Backlash: The Occupy London protest continues in the square at St Paul's Cathedral, with many very angry about capitalist Britain
Former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said: ‘These greedy bosses sit on each others’ remuneration committees and wave through each others’ offensive pay rises.
An average rise of 49 per cent includes vast rewards for failure while employees, shareholders and customers suffer.
Fury: Lord Oakeshott says a minority are getting 'vast rewards for failure while employees, shareholders and customers suffer'
'It’s high time they showed leadership and restraint.’
The revelation on corporate pay comes as Shell reported bumper profits of £4.4billion in just three months, after reaping the benefit of the high oil prices hitting motorists at the petrol pumps.
In a further insult to struggling families, a separate survey revealed City firms will pay out £4.2billion this year in bonuses alone.
The sum, revealed by City think tank the Centre for Economics and Business Research will be handed out despite pledges by successive governments to crack down on the culture of corporate excess.
Meanwhile, ordinary households are an average of £15 a week worse off than a year ago, thanks to spiralling bills and pay squeezes.
Earlier this week the governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King said workers in Britain had been hit by the biggest fall in living standards ‘in living memory’.
TOP EARNING BOSSES
 |  |
|---|---|
| Mick Davis, above left (Xstrata) | £18,426,105 |
| Bart Becht, above right (Reckitt Benkiser) | £17,879,000 |
| Michael Spencer (ICAP) | £13,419,619 |
| Sir Terry Leahy (Tesco) | £12,038,303 |
| Tom Albanese (Rio Tinto) | £11,623,162 |
| Sir Martin Sorrell (WPP Group) | £8,949,985 |
| Todd Kozel (Gulf Keystone Petroleum) | £8,913,223 |
| Don Robert (Experian) | £8,601,984 |
| Edward Bonham Carter (Jupiter Fund Management) | £8,003,641 |
| Dame Marjorie Scardino (Pearson) | £8,003,641 |
Author Steve Tatton said the companies would find it hard to explain why executives were being so handsomely rewarded while their employees struggle to get by.
‘The pay gap between the boardroom and the shop floor does not yet show any signs of closing,’ he said.
Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, added that the boardroom increases amounted to a ‘brazen stitch-up’.
He said: ‘With the FTSE 100 down on last year and most staff getting pay rises of less than two per cent, these bumper settlements prove that CEO pay bears no resemblance to performance or economic reality.’
One of the key factors behind the inflation squeeze on household finances has been the high price of oil, which has been above $100 per barrel all year.
The oil giant made £4.4billion in the third quarter of the year, the equivalent of around £48million per day.
Petrol prices are up almost 18 per cent since last September, according to data collected by Asda, adding to the pressure on incomes.
The £4.2billion bonus pool shared out in London’s financial district is actually 38 per cent down on the previous year and a long way below the £11.6billion paid out in 2007/08, just before the credit crunch ravaged the global economy.
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