TORY ministers must address pay fairness, the TUC demanded today after new research revealed that the average chief executive has already earned as much as the typical worker will make in 2023 — just five days into the year.

A study from think tank the High Pay Centre indicated that, by 2pm today, bosses of FTSE 100 companies had earned a median of £33,000 since New Year’s Day; the average annual salary for British employees.

The shocking finding means that a 999 call handler would need to work for nearly 150 years to make what most chief executives pocket in just 12 months, the GMB union stressed.