How the tide turned against the CBI’s director general
The director general of Britain’s most prominent lobby group is not leaving quietly. On Tuesday morning, hours after learning of his dismissal from the Confederation of British Industry, Tony Danker posted a series of tweets in which he revealed he was “shocked” at the decision, which followed allegations of misconduct.
Some present and former staff did not share in his sense of surprise, they told the Guardian, four weeks after this newspaper first revealed the allegations against him.
The CBI said in a statement on Tuesday: “Tony Danker is dismissed with immediate effect following the independent investigation into specific complaints of workplace misconduct against him. The Board wishes to make clear he is not the subject of any of the more recent allegations in the Guardian but has determined that his own conduct fell short of that expected of the director general.”
Danker responded on social media, saying he had expected to be invited to make his case to the CBI’s leadership before any announcement was made. It is understood he had already given an account of his position in response to the allegations against him to the independent investigation, by the CBI-appointed law firm, Fox Williams.
Danker said he recognised the CBI had suffered intense publicity, before adding: “I was nevertheless shocked to learn this morning that I had been dismissed from the CBI, instead of being invited to put my position forward as was originally confirmed”. He added that many of the allegations against him had been “distorted”.
The CBI claims to speak on behalf of 190,000 businesses in the UK, and to have unrivalled access to government at all levels. Danker, who was born in Belfast, joined the organisation in November 2020 and sought to
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