Poor relations between business and government

Forty years ago I published an article in Government and Opposition on big business and the Conservative Party in which I stated, 'The basic theme of this article is that this relationship is more problematic and tenuous than is often assumed to be the case.'   More recent events appear to confirm this thesis.

The CBI likes to present itself as the voice of British business.   Its heyday was in the days of tripartite economic policy in the 1970s when it became a governing institution alongside the TUC.  Its cooperation was needed to make prices and incomes policy, the central plank of economic policy, function.  Its role is evident in the chapter on economic policy I contributed to the recent book on the Callaghan Government edited by Kevin Hickson.

It suffered a body blow under the Thatcher Government when it was seen as a throwback to failed corporatism.   Matters weren't helped when one director-general promised a 'bare knuckle fight' with the Government.   Mrs Thatcher preferred to talk to the Institute of Directors which was seen as a more resolutely pro free enterprise organisation.

Influence was regained under the Major Government and New Labour, but in some respects the organisation has been 'hollowed out' like other British institutions.   A complicating factor is that Britain is a 'company state' where direct relations between leading companies and government are often more important than those mediated by associations.

The Brexit referendum posed new difficulties for the CBI.   Most businesses and business leaders (Wetherspoons aside) were opposed to leaving, although consumer facing companies were reluctant to put their heads above the parapet.   In any event, the CBI came under fire from leavers for its stance.  This culminated in Boris Johnson being reported as saying '**** business.'

Now Boris Johnson has called in one of his Oxford pals to set up a Business Action Council.  Maurice Ostro is a little known former frozen yoghurt manufacturer.   The new body is made up of 32 trade associations.   In the past British trade associations had a poor reputation for lack of professionalism, although doubtless they have improved in a digital age.    In any case the stated aim is to help small entrepreneurs rather than big listed companies.

If a report in the Financial Times is to be believed, the organisation comes across as a something of a shambles which is no surprise when anything emanating from 10 Downing Street is concerned.   Its business is apparently conducted in half hour group conference calls and it appears to have achieved very little in seven months.

Business has been disappointed by the lack of effective engagement with government over the consequences of a no deal Brexit, but government has been trying to establish a narrative in which business gets the blame for inadequate preparation.  Either way, the relationship between government and business is as bad as it has ever been.

Call for cost benefit analysis on Covid-19

This is a balanced and informed essay by Conservative Home arguing for a cost benefit analysis in relation to Covid-19 decisions: https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2020/11/how-conservative-mps-should-approach-todays-vote-on-the-governments-lockdown-plan.html

If one relies on the advice of public health experts, they are quite properly going to prioritise that over everything else whereas there are other considerations which may well impact on health in the longer run.

What is evident is that some Conservative MPs and many Conservative activists are running out of patience with the Government's approach.  A cycle of lockdowns would be increasingly difficult to impose.

Parliament has been marginalised

MPs in revolt are right, argue Meg Russell and Lisa James of the UCL Constitution Unit.   They have been sidelined and Parliament has been marginalised in the pandemic and they explain why scrutiny matters: https://constitution-unit.com/2020/09/28/mps-are-right-parliament-has-been-sidelined/

A blog from the Spectator also discusses the exasperation of MPs with 'government by decree': https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/mps-can-no-longer-stomach-government-by-decree

Will the Lords block the internal market bill?

Will the House of Lords block the Government's controversial Internal Market Bill?   Meg Russell of UCL's Constitution Unit is the leading expert on the upper house and gives an authoritative view here: https://constitution-unit.com/2020/09/13/will-the-lords-block-the-uk-internal-market-bill/ 

From what I hear, some on the right are getting ready to portray the Lords as an undemocratic body standing in the way of the will of the people.  

Looking at elections at constituency level

The article I wrote for Political Quarterly with Sally Scarlett on the 2019 general election in two contrasting Warwickshire constituencies is available free to view for a month: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1467-923X.12868

Warwick & Leamington was the seat of Sir Anthony Eden, but is now marginal Labour while Nuneaton has changed from safe Labour to safe Conservative.

A fine grained analysis at the constituency level can give insights in addition to those available from national studies.

Voters and parties have divergent values

This study of the social and economic values of MPs, party members and voters is clearly very important and will repay careful reading: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mind-the-values-gap.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2ryXxUAGq0l5xZaF3CBAVh8emmG1sY_89FsXKMP7YkIsioiqhcVnCnCAE

One key take home message is that the study shows the serious problems both parties have with the electorate, albeit not on the same issues.  Voters are more aligned with Labour on economic values and with the Conservatives on social values.

'The fact that Conservative MPs so strongly reject widespread perceptions of structural unfairness – far more strongly than grassroots Conservative Party members and activists – hints at the challenge the Johnson government will face if the shock of Covid-19 triggers public demand for economic redistribution and reform'

'The Conservative Party won in 2010 and 2015 by insisting on the need for austerity and cuts that chimed with the views of MPs, activists and members on the role of the state, and made sense to a lot of voters. If, however, a sense that "there is one law for the rich and one for the poor", and that ordinary people who have done nothing wrong are being let down by the government, begins to take hold, then the gap between Conservative Party people and voters as a whole could prove deeply problematic for the Johnson government.'

'On the other side of the fence, Labour’s struggles over Brexit between 2016 and 2019 were arguably symptomatic of a disconnect on a wider set of social values between its MPs, activists and members, on the one hand, and many of its potential voters, on the other.'

What is going on at the Spectator?

For a magazine with a circulation of 87,000, the Spectator (or the Sextator as some of its detractors call it) exerts an extraordinary influence.  I know the circulation is 87,000 because as a subscriber I received an e-mail from the chairman the other day saying they hoped to push it up to 100,000.

Boris Johnson was, of course, an editor of the Spectator.   Dominic Cummings worked for it and his wife, aristo Mary Wakefield, is currently deputy/commissioning editor.   Aeons ago it was a platform for the ultimate patrician Tory wet, Sir Ian Gilmour, who both owned and edited it.

Why do I subscribe to the Spectator?   One reason is that as it functions as a test bed for the ideas of what may loosely be called the 'libertarian right' and I want to find out what they are thinking.   At one time they seemed to be obsessed with wind farms and they still don't like renewable energy.

The preoccupation now is developing a new, harder line on China.   This is somewhat ironic given that the Spectator (natch) supported Brexit and if a 'global Britain' was to look credible it required a closer economic relationship with China after the model of George Osborne and David Cameron.  However, China has made a series of mistakes.

I also have to admit that the quality of some of the writing is very high and the coverage of the arts and books is first rate.  Apart from Private Eye, it is the subscription I most enjoy.   The Economist is authoritative, but quite heavy going and too wedded to a market and free trade solution to everything.  Farmers Weekly is an odd mixture of whingeing and obscure technical articles.  The Times Higher is now fortnightly and always devotes far too much space to Australia.

The reaction of the Spectator to the Dominic Cummings affair was quite baffling on the face of it.  It published an early critical article online and the latest issue contains a cry of pain from a guest columnist repudiating the Conservative Party.   No doubt the editor would say this just demonstrate its commitment to freedom of speech.   It also counteracts the rather misleading article that Mary Wakefield wrote describing the lockdown experience of herself and her husband, Dominic Cummings.

In any case there is plenty of pro-Cummings material and an editorial banging the libertarian drum on lockdown.   Whether or not it reaches its 100,000 target, the Spectator will continue to exert a considerable influence on the thinking of the Johnson Government.   I was going to say 'Conservative thinking', but this is not Tory thinking as I knew it.