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UK corporate leaders will get a chance to lobby Rishi Sunak today, as the prime minister holds the first of a series of summits with business chiefs.Sunak is launching a new conference called Business Connect which, the government says, will “champion the dynamism of UK businesses to unlock innovation and grow the economy”.
Boris Johnson had a notoriously dismissive view of business concerns about Brexit, but rather than firing off f-words, Sunak is aiming to repair the damage caused to relations in recent years – and fend of Keir Starmer’s efforts to make Labour the party of business.
Downing Street says today’s event will involve “direct and detailed discussions across key industries”, involving over 200 CEOs and other senior business leaders, and investors. Diageo, Barclays and Currys are among the firms expected to attend.
Sunak is expected to pledge to provide conditions for businesses to thrive and help drive the economy, so could get his ear bent over issues such as labour shortages, trade frictions with Europe, and the burden of high energy bills.
Britain’s lacklustre economic growth could come up too – with the IMF predicting the UK will be the worst-performing major economy this year.But, one business lobbyist has told the Financial Times that his members were “wary” of Business Connect because it was not a cross-party initiative.
Sunak is also holding a LinkedIn Live event on Monday morning, where a group od “entrepreneurs, SMEs, innovators and young people” can quiz the PM.Lobbying the government on behalf of businesses was a key role of the Confereration of British Industry. But on Friday night, the CBI mothballed its operations until June, after a flood of members quit or suspended operations following the Guardian’s reporting of alleged sexual misconduct by male employees at the lobbying group.
Yesterday, the Labour party revealed it had stopped working with the CBI.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the lobby group needed “a root and branch review and reform process”.
Ashworth said:“I just feel for the people who have been victims, and that the CBI has really got to get its house in order.”
The future of the CBI continues to hang in the balance; last weekend, one business leader warned its brand was “beyond repair”.
Andy Wood, chief executive of the Suffolk brewer Adnams, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday: “I think probably the CBI brand is now beyond repair. It will have to reinvent itself root and branch."
The CBI is understood to be holding an all-staff meeting today to update employees on its plans. Some CBI staff are understood to be concerned about potential redundancies at the group, and surprised there has been no discussion yet around job security.
The group faces a crucial week ahead. Early in the week it is expected to respond to a report by Fox Williams, an external law firm commissioned to carry out an independent investigation into allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct.
Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s former chief economist, is also this week expected to take over as director general, after being appointed this month.
The head of energy regulator Ofgem is expected to call for a new register of vulnerable households, to offer them better protection.
Ofgem is hosting a "Vulnerability Summit" to focus on the issue.
Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem’s chief executive, is expected to tell attendees: “We should all consider building towards a joint register, not just between water and energy, but including local and national government.
“Ideally, this register would be based around a ‘tell us once’ principle –where families who have vulnerabilities tell one agency about this and, with permission, this is shared across the others with a single, reliable source of data to anticipate, identify, and respond to the needs of those customers.”
The agenda
• 9am BST: Ofgem holds Vulnerability Summit 2023
• 9am BST: Ifo survey of Germany’s business climate
• 1.30pm BST: Chicago Fed index of US economic activity
We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ... |
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| David Pegg
Investigative reporter, the Guardian |
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