ALEX BRUMMER: Existential threat to the CBI

Slavish adherence of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to the cause of ‘Remain’ long after most of the country was adjusting to the realities of Brexit did it no favours.

It meant it was out of touch with the views of more than half the country, including many smaller enterprises, but also diminished its standing in Westminster and Whitehall.

Tony Danker was caught up in allegations of sexual indiscretions and stepped down as director general of the CBI

There was little doubt who Boris Johnson was referring to when uttered ‘f**k business’ in 2018.

When Tony Danker took over as director general of the 190,000 member organisation in 2020 he promised a fresh approach.

His CBI would be less political and focused on making the best of the UK’s technology and new opportunities for investment and exports. Covid may have muscled in on the opportunities but the McKinsey emigre, with the Northern Ireland background, looked as if he would have cut through.

How quickly matters have changed.

Danker was caught up in allegations of sexual indiscretions and stepped down.

And as a result of allegations of sexual harassment of a dozen women, including an alleged female rape at a boat party – separate to the allegations about Danker – the organisation is in disarray.

The CBI, which has played a central role in our national affairs for nearly six decades, could be facing an existential crisis.

What makes the allegations so shocking is that they come from an organisation that has been a strong voice for equal pay for women (an aspiration still largely unfulfilled) and that leaned into political correctness. Self-awareness in the CBI hierarchy made it obvious that matters could not simply carry on as before.

Cancellation of its black-tie annual dinner, at which the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey was to speak in May, was a no-brainer.

The loss of income from what has been a networking and fundraising event will be a blow. Just as serious will be the impact on its annual conference in the autumn which in recent years has offered the opportunity for leaders of the main parties to speak.

It was in 2021 that then Prime Minister Boris Johnson was derided (in my view, wrongly) for hailing Peppa Pig as a great example of the reach of creative Britain.

It is not very helpful when the CBI, which thinks of itself as the voice of business, is blackballed by the Treasury and the Department for Business.

Whitehall doesn’t directly pay the wages of the 350 or so CBI colleagues. But the group almost certainly benefits from some government skills and training initiatives.

FAR more critical to its future is retaining the support of the big beasts of commerce who help fund it through membership fees.

The UK’s premier engineering group Rolls-Royce describes the allegations as deeply concerning. Audit and consulting firm EY expressed similar anxiety.

Marks & Spencer, where the chairman Archie Norman is leading a drive for modern governance for public companies, has put the CBI on notice.

It is awaiting the outcome of the probe into misogyny before deciding on whether to retain its membership.

The value of the CBI is the claim to have best access of Britain’s business organisations to Whitehall, ministers and opposition parties. But there is no shortage of rivals, each with their own merits and reach.

The British Chambers of Commerce has branches across every region and municipality and ably represents the interests of the smaller and medium sized businesses.

And the right-leaning Institute of Directors is a critical voice which this week released a well-timed policy paper on exporting in a post-Brexit world.

Then there are all manner of effective voices for every sector of the economy, ranging from the manufacturers that are part of Make UK, to UK Finance and the Creative Industries Council.

If the CBI didn’t exist, would it be missed? The days when it sat down with government and trade unions to hand out the spoils in wage negotiations are over.

The case for a large business group, which cannot possibly know the needs of its vast membership, is marginal. The role it performs could as easily be done by more focused, less grand trade groupings.

The current allegations are shocking and appalling. But they provide an opportunity for a major rethink of who is the real voice of enterprise and aspiration.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk