Shareholders vs bill payers

I blogged last year that I thought the position of shareholders relative to other stakeholders was going to come into sharper focus in politics. Here's a piece from my favourite newspaper this weekend to make the point:

It's a pretty simple message: more cash for shareholders means higher bills for customers.

This sort of positioning is no longer restricted to utilities. For example, look at the way the story in the Guardian about dividends paid in Q1 is framed - the payment of dividends is counterposed with wages.

Something's up.