UK's gender pay rankings will put discrimination under spotlight

The naming and shaming of employers is welcome, but the fight for equal pay for women has just begun

It's like air pollution. Everyone knows it is happening, but they don't want to admit they are part of the problem.

Britain's gender pay gap has refused to close for years. At 9.4% in 2016, the difference between average pay for male and female full-time employees was little changed from the 10.5% gap five years earlier.

Related: Government failure to act means gender pay gap will remain, say MPs

Related: New GlaxoSmithKline chief to earn 25% less than her predecessor

We also suspect there will be a certain degree of licence for employers to exclude and manipulate data, which is highly subjective [and open to] interpretation in any event.

We expect big-budget organisations to be hiring expert pay consultants to identify and manipulate the numbers, how the parameters of the quartiles are identified, which people are counted and to put a positive spin on the data"

Related: It's time to rewrite the rules of economics to end the growing chasm of inequality | Liam Byrne