UK PM May backs away from boards plan

British PM Theresa May has backed away from a pledge to require companies to put worker representatives on boards.

The UK government is preparing to take action to tackle problems with executive pay and accountability and ensure employees have "a voice" in company boardrooms, Prime Minister Theresa May has announced.

But in a speech to the CBI in London, May said she wanted to "work with the grain of business" and made clear that the planned changes will not include the direct appointment of workers or trade union representatives to boards.

Just two days ahead of Philip Hammond's crucial Autumn Statement, May also set out plans to assist business, including her ambition to ensure the UK has the lowest corporate tax rates in the G20 group of advanced economies and measures to boost productivity.

And she offered to seek certainty for employees concerned about their future in the UK in the wake of Brexit, declaring she will seek an "early agreement" with other EU states on the status of UK nationals living elsewhere in Europe and EU nationals in Britain.

She announced the launch of a Patient Capital Review, chaired by Damon Buffini, to help innovative firms get the long-term investment they need to transform breakthrough ideas into sustainable businesses.

And she said the government was launching a review of its Small Business Research Initiative under Cambridge entrepreneur David Connell to ensure it does more to give innovators their first break.