The Notebook: Business leaders of the nation unite! Labour’s promises were a load of tosh

Where the City’s movers and shakers have their say. Today, Neil Bennett, co-chief executive of H/Advisors, takes the notebook pen with a call for business leaders to unite and speak up about Labour’s empty promises

Business leaders stand up against Labour!

So now we know. After all the blather from Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in the run-up to the general election that Labour was the true party of business, the truth is becoming apparent. This is the most anti-business, anti-enterprise government Britain has had in decades. And we will all end up paying the price.

Whether they have been handing out inflationary pay rises to their union funders, promising a four-day week to employees or threatening business leaders with vast fines for any supposed infringement of these inflated workers’ rights, the government has launched an attack on the private sector on multiple fronts. Now we learn they propose to create a super-regulator to police all this, the terrifyingly named Fair Work Agency. It is a title of which George Orwell would have been proud.

The greatest issue that Britain faces today is its moribund, low growth, low productivity economy. What does Labour propose to do? Hamstring the wealth creators and introduce a swathe of additional employment rights that will reduce growth and productivity further. Little wonder that Sir Keir Starmer is so gloomy about our prospects – but he fails to recognise that he is now the problem, not the cure.

Of course the government will continue to parade its pro-business rhetoric and corral company bosses into endless Number 10 breakfasts to feed them into quiescence. They however will no longer be fooled.

What should the business community do against such an assault? There is one word. They should protest. Loudly and continually. They should sign up to business organisations such as the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce and push them to raise their voices and campaign. They should emphasise that these anti-business measures will have painful consequences, on inflation, on employment, on growth and national wealth. They should muscle their way onto the Today Programme and News at Ten to lean into the political debate. They should lobby their local MPs to remind them of the real world consequences of government policy.

I have argued before that the business community has much to learn from the trade unions about their ability to campaign and be heard. Too often in the past business organisations prefer a softly, softly approach to government relations. There is little point to that any more in this hostile environment. Business leaders of the nation unite!

Kemi’s campaign

Staying with politics, I was privileged to be invited on Monday to the launch of Kemi Badenoch’s campaign to become Conservative leader. I am a fan of Kemi in the current environment since she appears to be the only Tory prepared to mount effective opposition to the government.

It was a slick affair, and she is an impressive performer. She will go a long way in this contest, and I am one of many who predict a final run-off between her and Robert Jenrick. 

But I was disappointed that she did not mention business or the economy once in her key campaign points for all the reasons above. We know Kemi has a powerful contribution to make on issues such as identity politics and citizenship, but, ultimately for me, politics is about securing the prosperity of a nation and its citizens and a Conservative leader needs to have that close to their heart. Besides, this is ultimately an election by the Conservative Party membership, and that includes a high proportion of small business owners and managers. They will expect their next leader to defend their interests.

A recommendation

Hillbilly Elegy, Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by JD Vance

JD Vance is having a rocky time as Donald Trump’s Vice-Presidential running mate. The media seem to be taking it in turns to mock him, trip him up or generally discount him.

A very different Vance emerges from his memoir, which I read over the summer. He has an extraordinary story, born into a chaotic, dysfunctional family riven with violence and drug abuse and rising above it to become a US Marine, then Yale Law graduate and onto the highest levels of US politics.

His book is compelling reading since it not only charts his own journey but the decline of his whole community in both Kentucky and Ohio, and some of the economic and social causes. Refreshingly for a politician (now senator for Ohio) he does not propose any glib or easy solutions and accepts the limitations of government to address social ills. More than anything though, the book is a powerful explanation of why swathes of middle America are supporting Trump  in desperation at their predicament.