One Direction's earnings have been described as "mad" by the head of the Institute of Directors (I.O.D.), Simon Walker, during a discussion on executive pay today (April 15) in London.

Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne attracted attention not for their hairstyles, fashion sense or love lives but because the £5m they each earned last year in a debate on high pay in the City.

Walker was debating with the UK's Business Secretary, Vince Cable, the minimum wage and issues of low pay when he digressed onto the subject of the wages of footballers and pop stars in order bring a comparable with the salaries of top business leaders, he said:

"I think it's mad that members of boy band One Direction made £5m each last year."

Cable, sitting alongside him, later clarified remarks he had made supporting Walker's general thesis on executive pay, telling Sky News: "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.

"But 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."

The wealth of the quintet, the oldest of whom is Louis Tomlinson at 21, was calculated this weekend for the Sunday Times young music rich list, on which they featured for the first time. 

One Direction's debut album reached No.1 in 16 countries, but it is their continual success that helped them secure a place on the Sunday Times' list.

Watch One Direction perform 'Live While We're Young' at their Sheffield concert below: