Labour could “crack the foundations of our economy” while the Tories run the risk of a nationwide skills shortage, Britain’s biggest business lobby group has warned ahead of the general election.
Underlining the stark choices voters face on December 12, the Confederation of
British Industry (CBI), which represents a sizeable 200,000
UK firms, has laid into the policies on offer from both
Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson.
As the CBI prepares to hold its conference in central
London, director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, laid out firms’ fears over Labour’s renationalisation programme and the Conservatives’ bid to wrench the UK out of the EU and clampdown on immigration.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, Fairbairn called the forthcoming
election an “extraordinary” event for business and named 2020 the most important year in a generation for the UK’s private sector.
Asked if she believed Corbyn was a “friend to business”, Fairbairn replied: “We look at the policies on the table [from Labour] and we have real concerns that they are going to crack the foundations of our economy.”
Corbyn has already announced plans including free full-fibre broadband for all, a boost to NHS spending and a minimum wage hike to £10 an hour.
Fairbairn called the broadband plan, which includes parts of BT being taken into public ownership, a “bolt from the blue”.
The manifesto, due to be unveiled to the public on Thursday, is also expected to include proposals to bring rail and water back into state ownership, and a bid to make the UK carbon neutral by 2030.
“That will freeze investment,” Fairbairn claimed. “I have talked to businesses who are already sitting there thinking ‘maybe we’re next’.
“So we do say again to
Labour – work with business, work out different answers to these problems. But this programme that is appearing to value none of the contribution that business makes will simply shut investment out of our country.”
Moving on to the Tory Party, Fairbairn called Johnson’s approach to
immigration “a worry”.
Johnson has scrapped the Conservatives’ target of bringing net migration down to the “tens of thousands”, which was brought in under
Theresa May and never met. "Is Jeremy Corbyn a friend to business?" asks @SophyRidgeSky.@CBItweets chief @cbicarolyn says she's spoken to businesses who worry "we're next" in Labour's nationalisation plans.#GE2019More on #Ridge: https://t.co/tfevKoFTzypic.twitter.com/y0BZmxg92y— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) November 17, 2019But they will go into the election pledging to lower overall migration and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday the “vast majority” of migrants would need a job offer to come to the UK.
The party said there will be a small number of exceptions, including high-skilled scientists and those who want to come to the UK to start a business.
Fairbairn said businesses and public services need skilled workers, sometimes from abroad, and that the move threatened to leave the UK ultimately worse off.
“When we hear talk about brightest and best, I think that is a worry,” she said. “If you do want to build 200,000 houses a year, you don’t just need the architects and the designers, you need the carpenters, you need the electricians, you need the labourers.
“We need people to come and help us renew our economy.”
She added: “It’s not just brightest and best, it’s people at all skill levels across our
economy that we need.”
Labour appears to be preparing the ground to unveil a more liberal stance on migration.
Asked if free movement will end when the UK leaves the EU, Corbyn told The Andrew Marr Show on
BBC One: “There will be a great deal of movement.”
Fairbairn also had concerns about the PM ruling out an extension to the
Brexit transition period.
She said: “One of the things I think is really important to understand is that if you are in business, living through the last three years, these rolling cliff-edges of climbing up a mountain with stockpiling and then climbing down again, could not be more damaging.”
She added: “Let’s make sure that we don’t end up with yet another cliff-edge, possibly in June, or possibly at the end of December.
“Because every time we do that we take investment away from our country.”
Raab said he does not think it “remotely likely” the UK will leave the EU without a deal.
Speaking ahead of the CBI’s annual conference on Monday, Fairbairn called for a moderate approach to public policy from all parties, but she admitted that “too many people have lost faith in a system they don’t see working for them”.
She added: “In response, ideologies from both the left and right have emerged to fill the gap, pushing debate to extremes and offering superficial fixes to complex problems.
“Public faith in our politicians and institutions continues to erode, the historic partnership between business and government is under strain. Business investment has fallen for 18 months and productivity growth remains stubbornly sluggish. Confidence in the UK is faltering.
“This cannot continue, but it is within our power to change it.
“We simply cannot afford another wasted year of political paralysis, indecision and distraction while productivity and investment suffer.”Related... Sunday Shows Round-Up: Freedom Of Movement, Brexit And Tory 'Corruption' Claims Jennifer Arcuri:
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