LONDON (Reuters) – The Liberal Democrats will Thursday call for the government to accelerate plans to exempt more low-paid workers from paying income tax, hoping to fund the move with an as yet unspecified raid on the wealthy.

In a speech in London which may irritate some on the right wing of the Conservative-led coalition, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will warn that “household budgets are approaching a state of emergency, and the government needs a rapid response.”

Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce an increase in the personal allowance for income tax in his March budget, but there is no indication yet whether he will meet Clegg’s challenge.

Britain’s economy contracted in the last three months of 2011 and, with unemployment rising and wages stagnant, the government is facing greater pressure to soften its austerity plan of big spending cuts and tax rises.

Clegg’s push for a smaller tax burden on the lowest paid in the economy, however, would be a fiscally-neutral move.

“I want to help hard-pressed and hardworking families. If that means asking more from those at the top, so be it,” Clegg will say, according to extracts of his speech released in advance by his office.

The coalition has already committed to raising the threshold at which employees start paying tax to 10,000 pounds by 2015. That is a crucial pledge for the Liberal Democrats, who have had to abandon several policies since signing up to a coalition in 2010 which has damaged their popularity.

LONDON (Reuters) – Shareholders should be given a binding vote over how large British companies manage executive pay and more companies should be able to claw back cash from highly-paid staff who fail to deliver, Business Secretary Vince Cable said on Monday.

Firms should also need 75 percent of shareholders to agree to any pay proposals, Cable told parliament, announcing measures to improve executive pay policy at Britain’s biggest companies.

Big bonus payouts at Britain’s banks – and large pay rises for bosses at other firms – have sparked a public and political backlash over perceived excess in executive pay, at a time when the economy is stalling and many workers are enduring negligible pay increases or wage freezes.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has pledged to clamp down on out-of-control pay culture, although ministers are wary of pushing too far with regulation, for fear of driving talent away from Britain’s top companies.

“No proposal on its own is a magic bullet but together they can enable a major transformation to get under way,” Cable told parliament.

“Shareholders need new powers to hold the board (of companies) to account and I will consult shortly on specific proposals to reform the current voting arrangements and give shareholders a binding vote, enabling them to exert more pressure on boards,” he said.

The binding vote will cover how directors’ performance is judged and the scope of potential payouts. The government will also extend to all big firms a requirement for contracts to include clawback mechanisms — not just in financial services.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Shareholders should be given a binding vote over how large British companies manage executive pay and more companies should be able to claw back cash from highly-paid staff who fail to deliver, Business Secretary Vince Cable said on Monday.

Firms should also need 75 percent of shareholders to agree to any pay proposals, Cable told parliament, announcing measures to improve executive pay policy at Britain’s biggest companies.

Big bonus payouts at Britain’s banks – and large pay rises for bosses at other firms – have sparked a public and political backlash over perceived excess in executive pay, at a time when the economy is stalling and many workers are enduring negligible pay increases or wage freezes.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has pledged to clamp down on out-of-control pay culture, although ministers are wary of pushing too far with regulation, for fear of driving talent away from Britain’s top companies.

“No proposal on its own is a magic bullet but together they can enable a major transformation to get under way,” Cable told parliament.

“Shareholders need new powers to hold the board (of companies) to account and I will consult shortly on specific proposals to reform the current voting arrangements and give shareholders a binding vote, enabling them to exert more pressure on boards,” he said.

The binding vote will cover how directors’ performance is judged and the scope of potential payouts. The government will also extend to all big firms a requirement for contracts to include clawback mechanisms — not just in financial services.

LONDON (Reuters) – Bonuses in Britain’s financial services sector have been “out of control” in recent years, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, unveiling plans to cap cash rewards again at state-backed banks.

Cameron said his coalition government would next week set out detailed proposals on curbing executive pay across all sectors, a sensitive issue in Britain where unemployment is increasing and pay rises for most people are lagging inflation.

With 2011 bonus payouts only weeks away for Europe’s banks there is particular scrutiny in Britain on lenders bailed out by UK taxpayers during the financial crisis. A tough year for investment banking income and poor share price performance have added to pressure to rein in bonuses.

Cash bonuses at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) would be limited to 2,000 pounds ($3,100), Cameron said.

The state has an 83 percent stake in RBS and also owns 40 percent of Lloyds after taxpayers bailed them out.

The cash bonus cap was used last year, although some staff were able to convert some of the shares they were given into cash as early as June.

Payouts being lined up for top executives, like RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester, are also coming under fire, although RBS denied reports it had decided to award him a bonus of between 1.3 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds. Cameron said Hester’s bonus had not yet been decided.

LONDON (Reuters) – Bonuses in Britain’s financial services sector have “got out of control” in recent years, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, adding cash payments at state-backed banks would again be limited to 2,000 pounds.

Cameron also confirmed the coalition government would next week set out detailed proposals on curbing executive pay, a sensitive issue in Britain where unemployment is rising and pay rises for most are lagging inflation.

He was asked about a report in the Financial Times that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Stephen Hester would get a bonus of between 1.3 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds in the forthcoming payments round.

The state has an 83 percent stake in RBS after it was bailed out by taxpayers.

“For our part, as major shareholders in the business, let me say we will be repeating what we did last year and restricting the cash element of bonuses in all state-owned banks to 2,000 pounds,” Cameron said.

He added the bonus payment for Hester had not been decided, echoing comments from the bank.

The state also owns 40 percent of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) after it too was bailed out under the previous Labour government during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

LONDON (Reuters) – Bonuses in the financial services sector have “got out of control” in recent years, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, adding cash payments at state-backed banks would again be limited to 2,000 pounds.

Cameron also confirmed the government would next week set out detailed proposals on curbing executive pay, a sensitive issue in Britain where unemployment is rising and pay rises for most are lagging inflation.

He was asked about a report in the Financial Times that Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Executive Stephen Hester would get a bonus of between 1.3 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds in the forthcoming payments round.

The state has an 83 percent stake in RBS after it was bailed out by taxpayers.

“For our part, as major shareholders in the business, let me say we will be repeating what we did last year and restricting the cash element of bonuses in all state-owned banks to 2,000 pounds,” Cameron said.

He added the bonus payment for Hester had not been decided, echoing comments from the bank.

The state also owns 40 percent of Lloyds Banking Group after it too was bailed out under the previous Labour government during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Bonuses in Britain’s financial services sector have “got out of control” in recent years, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday, adding cash payments at state-backed banks would again be limited to 2,000 pounds ($3,100).

Cameron also confirmed the coalition government would next week set out detailed proposals on curbing executive pay, a sensitive issue in Britain where unemployment is rising and pay rises for most are lagging inflation.

He was asked about a report in the Financial Times that Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Executive Stephen Hester would get a bonus of between 1.3 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds in the forthcoming payments round.

The state has an 83 percent stake in RBS after it was bailed out by taxpayers.

“For our part, as major shareholders in the business, let me say we will be repeating what we did last year and restricting the cash element of bonuses in all state-owned banks to 2,000 pounds,” Cameron said.

He added the bonus payment for Hester had not been decided, echoing comments from the bank.

The state also owns 40 percent of Lloyds Banking Group after it too was bailed out under the previous Labour government during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

LONDON (Reuters) – An independent Scotland, the dream of generations of nationalists, would boast a cash-rich economy buoyed by North Sea oil and Edinburgh finance, but would create another small state on the edge of Europe vulnerable to global shocks.

Nationalists argue that Scotland, an independent kingdom until 1707, is Europe’s next energy-rich Norway. Skeptics see another bailout candidate, an Ireland-in-waiting.

“Its economy is performing quite reasonably,” said Brian Ashcroft, an economics professor at Scotland’s University of Strathclyde.

“It stands very well compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. It would be quite a rich state,” said Ashcroft, before injecting a note of caution.

“Oil revenues are very volatile – it’s very dangerous to predicate your planned future spending on oil revenues.”

“I suspect that they would have to introduce tax rises or spending cuts and seek to bank the oil revenues.”

Scotland, a nation of more than five million, kept its own legal system after union with England in 1707, and has had a devolved government since 1999, with control over health, education and prisons. Proponents of independence feel the southeast of England, notably London, has enjoyed economic and social benefits at the expense of those ‘north of the border’.

LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth lauded the importance of a strong family at times of crisis, in a poignant Christmas message broadcast on Sunday as her 90-year-old husband recovered in hospital from heart surgery.

Elizabeth, who recorded the annual address before Prince Philip was taken ill on Friday, will mark 60 years on the throne in 2012 with a full tour of Britain, although Philip’s condition may mean scaling back his share of the duties.

The spotlight has fallen on the royals this weekend after Philip was rushed to hospital following chest pains. He underwent a successful operation to ease a blocked heart artery late on Friday and was since said to be in good spirits.

“We’ve seen that it’s in hardship that we often find strength from our families; it’s in adversity that new friendships are sometimes formed; and it’s in a crisis that communities break down barriers and bind together to help one another,” the Queen, 85, said.

“Families, friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within.”

Philip is likely to miss most of, if not all, the royal family’s Christmas get-together at their rural Sandringham estate in eastern England as doctors monitor his recovery.

“The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together,” the Queen said.

LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth lauded the importance of a strong family at times of crisis, in a poignant Christmas message broadcast on Sunday as her 90-year-old husband recovered in hospital from heart surgery.

Elizabeth, who recorded the annual address before Prince Philip was taken ill on Friday, will mark 60 years on the throne in 2012 with a full tour of Britain, although Philip’s condition may mean scaling back his share of the duties.

The spotlight has fallen on the royals this weekend after Philip was rushed to hospital following chest pains. He underwent a successful operation to ease a blocked heart artery late on Friday and was since said to be in good spirits.

“We’ve seen that it’s in hardship that we often find strength from our families; it’s in adversity that new friendships are sometimes formed; and it’s in a crisis that communities break down barriers and bind together to help one another,” the Queen, 85, said.

“Families, friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within.”

Philip is likely to miss most of, if not all, the royal family’s Christmas get-together at their rural Sandringham estate in eastern England as doctors monitor his recovery.

“The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together,” the Queen said.