Vince Cable has backed down over his criticism of One Direction earning too much money, presumably after he realised that to attack one of the biggest pop groups in the world was also to attack the millions of people that spend money on buying their merchandise, music and seeing them live.

In a recent interview, politician Cable had been asked whether One Direction earning £5 million each was too much, to which he said "I agree ... about the extremities of pay and the fact much of it is downright insensitive and in some cases grossly immoral." However, he was in full backtracking mode talking to Sky News subsequently, commenting "I don't want to attack One Direction. This is one particular group who are apparently very popular and very successful, so I have nothing against them.” He wasn’t done with having a go at the rich and prosperous though, turning his ire instead towards company executives. “There is a general issue of chief execs in particular who are paid well beyond what can be justified in terms of the performance of their companies and that's something the Government is now trying to address” he thundered. Nice one Vince, there are plenty more reasons to have a go at One Direction than simply how much money they earn.

One Direction
One Direction have left Vince Cable with his tail between his legs