Business leaders call for CBI to disband in wake of allegations
The Confederation of British Industry should disband after rape allegations led to an exodus of top firms from the lobbying group, business leaders said on Saturday.
One said the CBI’s “extraordinary culture” has made it “nigh-on impossible” for it to continue representing firms, while another said it has “probably run its course” after a “tsunami of resignations”.
The Guardian has published a series of accounts from more than a dozen women claiming they were victims of sexual misconduct by men at the CBI – including two women who said they were raped by colleagues.
Friday’s revelation, in which a woman said she was raped by two male colleagues at an overseas office of the CBI, led to more than 50 of Britain’s biggest businesses quitting or suspending engagement with the group.
And on Saturday, Lady Patience Wheatcroft, a former non-executive director of Barclays, said: “It’s very hard to see that [the CBI] has a positive future.”
She added: “This organisation has presided over the most extraordinary culture by the sound of it.
“It’s very hard to imagine an organisation where not one but two allegations of rape are now being investigated, and I think it makes it nigh-on impossible for the CBI to do the job that it’s there to do.”
“I think it’s time for a total rethink, not just by the CBI of what it does but a rethink of how business is represented and lobbies government. The CBI is having to accept itself that it was clearly deeply flawed and now it’s looking for a new sense of direction … they probably need to disband.”
On Friday, the CBIdecided to suspend all policy and membership activity until an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) is held in June.
The decision followed the departure of members including NatWest, the John
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