Michael Gove urges Theresa May to crack down on 'crony capitalism'

Liz Bates

Michael Gove has warned that a "crony" form of capitalism is failing ordinary people, as he urged ministers to do more to tackle fat cat executive pay.



At an event by think tank Policy Exchange in London today the Environment Secretary declared: “What capitalism has brought in both growth and progress in so many fields in the past, I fear it is not delivering now.

“As our Prime Minister put it, our economy should work for everyone. But if your pay has stagnated for several years in a row and fixed items of spending keep going up, it doesn’t feel like it’s working for you.”

The problems, he said, were being caused by the rise of “crony capitalism” which was causing power and wealth to become increasingly concentrated in the hands of the rich.

He blamed “bosses who earn a fortune but don’t look after their staff, international companies that treat tax laws as an optional extra,” and “directors who take out massive dividends while know that the company pension is about to go bust.”

Mr Gove said the Government must press ahead with plans set out by Theresa May to hold “irresponsible bosses, who reward themselves excessive pay rises” to account.

He also issued a stark warming to water companies who he accused of working to enrich themselves rather than serve their customers.

Asked if he would step in and force them to reform, he replied: “Change is coming.”

The Cabinet minister – who launched a botched bid for the Tory leadership in 2016 – yesterday topped a poll of Conservative members who were asked to rate the current cabinet, securing a huge approval rating of 72.5, closely followed by new Home Secretary Sajid Javid on 70.4.

Theresa May came second to last among her Cabinet colleagues in the popularity survey, conducted by Tory blog ConservativeHome, with a net rating of -9.5.