CBI crisis intensifies as second female worker makes rape claim
A second woman has come forward to claim she was raped while working at the CBI.
The Guardian said it was contacted by the person after it reported on the first, historical, allegation to be made that a female CBI worker was attacked during a London party in 2019.
The second woman claimed there was photographic evidence of sexual activity with two male colleagues while she was unconscious following a night out while working at a CBI office abroad.
She had no recollection of consent, the newspaper reported.
It added that another female employee had complained she was stalked by a male colleague in 2018 and that the business lobbying group had upheld a claim of harassment but retained the man’s services.
That was despite an alleged admission of violent and sexual feelings towards the woman, the paper said.
The scandal at Britain’s biggest employers’ organisation has seen at least 12 women complain about misconduct.
A number of allegations are the subject of an investigation by the City of London Police.
The CBI said on Thursday that it had handed officers new information relating to an alleged “serious” offence.
The scandal has seen director general Tony Danker dismissed and three other current employees being suspended amid the police inquiry and a review commissioned by the body.
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CBI boss Tony Danker sacked
The CBI has made clear previously that Mr Danker was not the subject of the most serious allegations, including rape, that had been made to date.
He hit out at the organisation’s handling of the affair in an interview earlier this week, claiming he had been made the “fall guy” for the organisation’s failings as an employer going back before his tenure.
The second woman to make a rape allegation told the Guardian she did not blame the CBI for allegedly being raped but hit out at the culture at the body.
“I was really young and people took advantage of me after a night of drinking,” she said.
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“I blame the CBI for an atmosphere that was allowed to feed into people’s sense of confidence. That they could act in this way and afterwards feel no worries, no fears of consequences. That they could feel somehow proud, in an office.
“That there wasn’t a person for me to speak to in HR who I knew of and could trust.
“I want to say to other women or men at the CBI that they do great work. I hope they understand why I wanted to speak about it; what happened to me.”
The Guardian said it had not reported the location or date of the alleged attack to help protect the woman’s identity.
The CBI is due next week to give an update on the changes it plans to implement at the organisation following the completion of the first phase of the review, led by a law firm.
Mr Danker has been succeeded as director general by Rain Newton-Smith, the organisation’s former chief economist.
Sky News has previously reported how she was parachuted into the role after chairman Brian McBride told members he was unsure whether the lobby group could have avoided collapse if it had run a lengthy process to find a successor.
Business
Energy bills to rise again from January but spring falls to come, research firm Cornwall Insight forecasts
Energy bills are to rise again next year, according to a respected forecaster.
Costs from January to March are projected to rise another 1% to £1,736 a year for the average user, according to research firm Cornwall Insight.
The energy price cap, which sets a limit on how much companies can charge per unit of electricity, is also expected to rise, costing typical households an extra £19 a year.
It’s a further increase after energy costs rose 10% from October.
After the latest hike, there were hopes of a fall in the new year, but volatile wholesale gas and electricity markets are still above historic average costs.
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Prices have gone up due to supply concerns arising from Russia‘s war in Ukraine, and maintenance of Norwegian gas infrastructure.
But spring is expected to herald a reduction as is October 2025, Cornwall Insight said.
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‘Energy prices make me depressed’, pensioner Roy Roots said in August
Every three months energy regulator Ofgem revises the cap based on wholesale costs.
The official January price cap announcement will be made on Friday.
It comes as millions of pensioners lost their automatic winter fuel allowance payment after the government means-tested the benefit.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Insight’s principal consultant Dr Craig Lowrey warned “millions” of households won’t heat their homes to “recommended temperatures, risking serious health consequences” with bills on the rise.
“With it being widely accepted that high prices are here to stay, we need to see action,” he said, suggesting options like cheaper rates for low-income homes, benefit restructuring, or other targeted support for the vulnerable “must be seriously considered”.
The energy price cap system is being reviewed by Ofgem with possible changes to the standing charge coming over the next year.
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The long-lasting solution to high energy bills is the transition to UK-produced renewable power, the firm said.
“While there will be upfront costs, this shift is essential to building a sustainable and secure energy system for the future.”
The owners of Scotland’s only oil refinery have rejected a US-led approach about a possible bid for it months before its scheduled closure.
Sky News has learnt that a consortium said to be led by Robert McKee, an American energy industry veteran, wrote to Petroineos, the owner of the Grangemouth site, to express an interest in buying it.
The approach, which is understood to have been made earlier this month, was rejected by Petroineos, which is 50%-owned by the petrochemicals empire founded by the Manchester United FC shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The consortium is understood to comprise The Canal Group, which is reportedly developing a green energy refinery in Texas, and Trading Stack, a Middle East-based commodities trader.
Mr McKee spent nearly four decades with ConocoPhillips, one of the biggest energy companies in the US.
Sources close to the situation said that Petroineos had rebuffed the offer in order to concentrate on a publicly announced plan to transform the century-old plant into a finished fuels import terminal.
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They added that the nature of the consortium’s approach had raised questions about its access to financing and expertise in operating an asset of this kind.
The Grangemouth refinery, which employs about 450 people, loses about £200m annually.
Its other shareholder is the state-backed Chinese energy giant PetroChina.
The site is due to close next year.
A person close to the consortium insisted that its financing was robust and said it would assess the feasibility of building a new refinery elsewhere in the area.
They added that the consortium had had “positive interactions” with trade union officials, and believed that there was scope to rapidly make Grangemouth’s refinery operations profitable.
On Monday, a spokesman for Petroineos said: “Since the Petroineos joint venture was formed 13 years ago, our shareholders have invested nearly £1bn in the refinery, only to absorb losses of £600m.
“Last week, the refinery lost £385,000 on average each day and we expect to lose more than £150m in total during the course of this year.
“We have not received any credible or viable bids for the refinery.”
A spokesman for the consortium declined to comment.
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