CBI turmoil: the toxic feud at the heart of Britain’s biggest lobbying group
For a business group used to sitting at the political top table, and one that is desperately trying to salvage its reputation, this could hardly have been a more untimely and undignified public row.
On national radio on Wednesday morning, Tony Danker, the former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, claimed he had been sacked unfairly by the lobbying group.
In an interview he told the BBC he had been made a “fall guy” for an organisation that has been rocked by allegations of a toxic culture.
Later, on the same programme, the CBI president, Brian McBride, stood resolutely by the decision to fire him, and said Danker’s description of events was “selective”.
It was another indication of the turmoil consuming the organisation, some of whose 190,000 members are already considering whether to quit.
Danker and McBride found few points of agreement in their separate interviews on the Radio 4 Today programme.
Yet there was one area where they appeared to share the same view: it would not be appropriate for Danker to lead the CBI out of its present mess.
“I think it’s hard to believe that I should now be the guy to go back and fix the problem,” Danker told the BBC. He added that he wanted his “reputation restored”.
Those problems which Danker refers to at the CBI are stark and have engulfed it in crisis since the Guardian first reported them last month.
They relate to the handling of a range of allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, made by more than 12 women.
An alleged rape and attempted sexual assault on a boat party in 2019 are among the claims. These allegations are now being investigated by the law firm Fox Williams, and the City of London police. None of them relate to Danker.
Central to Danker’s defence
Read more on theguardian.com
