‘This corporate Jurassic Park can’t stop the rot’: As the CBI is beset by rape, drugs and harassment allegations, RUTH SUNDERLAND says the only answer is for the organisation to disband itself
- CBI boss was sacked today after claims he harassed a female member of staff
- Read more: CBI boss Tony Danker is sacked after misconduct claims
The departure of Tony Danker as boss of the CBI after a sex and drugs scandal is nowhere near enough to stop the rot at what is supposed to be Britain’s premier business organisation.
Nor is his replacement with a new female director-general – even though she is a senior economist with an unblemished reputation.
So much damage has been done that the next step for the CBI, if it has a shred of self-respect left as an institution, must be to disband itself. As for the FTSE 100 companies, trade groups and small firms on its membership rolls, they should all be reviewing their subscriptions.
To do otherwise, in the face of allegations of rank sexual misconduct at a lobby group supposed to speak as their voice, is an insult to each and every one of their female employees. The question for every member is this: Do they really want to hand many thousands of pounds a year to the CBI, when it appears to be a corporate version of Jurassic Park, populated by all-powerful male dinosaurs stalking vulnerable female prey?
The departure of Tony Danker (pictured) as boss of the CBI after a sex and drugs scandal is nowhere near enough to stop the rot at what is supposed to be Britain’s premier business organisation, writes Ruth Sunderland
Mr Danker’s dismissal came after an investigation by law firm Fox Williams found his conduct – alleged to include bombarding a woman with unwanted messages – fell short of what was expected of him.
Even more shocking are a string of allegations against other men at the CBI. These, which do not involve Mr Danker, encompass alleged rape, attempted sexual assault and the widespread use of cocaine at official events.
It paints a grisly picture of an institution that is supposed to represent the cream of British capitalism.
At any workplace, accusations like these would be extremely worrying but, as the CBI has supported successive governments in trying to eradicate discrimination against women at work, it was especially important for its senior men to act as role models.
In fact, they allegedly behaved in such an appalling way that the testimony of the women involved inspired ‘revulsion’ among board members.
Rain Newton-Smith, who is taking over from Mr Danker, is highly regarded. Yet, however brilliant she is and however impeccable her personal and professional track record, she is not the answer. Not least because she is herself a CBI veteran, having served as its chief economist for nearly nine years before recently decamping to Barclays for a brief sojourn.
So much damage has been done that the next step for the CBI, if it has a shred of self-respect left as an institution, must be to disband itself
The board of the CBI has instigated a ‘root and branch review’ of its culture and governance, though this too will be led by an insider, board member Jill Ader.
It all sounds a lot more like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic than wholesale reform. The only logical solution is to wind down the CBI and set up a new body.
READ MORE: CBI boss Tony Danker says he is ‘shocked’ at his sacking and claims harassment allegations against him were ‘distorted’ – as three employees are suspended amid sexual misconduct probe at lobby group following complaints from a dozen women
Firms need an organisation capable of speaking on behalf of innovative 21st-century British ventures, not a relic of the past. Even its full name, the Confederation of British Industry, harks back to days when factory owners sat in smoke-filled rooms negotiating with union leaders.
Membership, even before the latest allegations, had declined from around 240,000 a decade ago to 190,000 now.
It has also lost much of its influence in the corridors of power by adopting a position diametrically opposed to the Government’s on many of the biggest issues of the day, including Brexit.
As one senior City source said last weekend, the CBI has been on the wrong side of many of the big arguments since the 1940s.
‘From supporting nationalisation, to state planning, joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and the euro, the CBI has a distinguished history in being wrong,’ they said. ‘Every member of the CBI would be better off spending the membership fee on something else.’
That said, the issue is not one of past mistakes, but whether it is fit for purpose in the modern world. The UK’s future prosperity lies in the hands of a new generation of youngsters in tech, green energy, life sciences and the creative sector.
Increasing numbers of these up-and coming-entrepreneurs are female. Unlike my age-group, who in the 1990s felt we had to put up with unwanted male attention in the workplace as an occupational hazard, today’s career women are not prepared to tolerate it.
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