CBI suspends all key activity after membership exodus during day of chaos
The CBI has suspended all activity until June after major companies terminated their membership or suspended collaboration due to the scandal engulfing the business lobby group.
The rush for the exit door came after the Guardian newspaper reported that a second woman had made a rape allegation – against two male CBI co-workers – building on the series of historic serious misconduct claims to have engulfed the body in recent weeks.
Meta, John Lewis, NatWest, BT, BMW, ITV and Unilever were among the big names to take action.
Which businesses have quit or suspended membership of the CBI?
After a day of chaos, the CBI announced late on Friday that it would suspend all policy and membership activity until an extraordinary general meeting in June when they would put forward proposals to restructure the organisation.
“The CBI shares the shock and revulsion at the events that have taken place in our organisation, and at past failures that allowed these events to happen,” the group said in a statement.
“We are deeply sorry and express our profound regret to the women who have endured these horrific experiences,” they added.
Membership exodus
It came at the end of a bruising day which saw dozens of firms from across all sectors of business and industry pull their support from the group.
Banking giant NatWest Group said: “Following careful consideration, and having previously paused all activity, NatWest Group has today withdrawn its membership of the CBI with immediate effect.”
A spokesperson for Facebook owner Meta also confirmed that they had paused engagement with the CBI while the investigation is ongoing.
BT Group said: “In light of the appalling allegations made, BT Group has decided to suspend its membership of the CBI with immediate effect.”
Carmaker BMW joined the exodus late on Friday, saying they were “concerned by the allegations relating to the CBI. The Group has therefore decided to terminate its membership with immediate effect”.
They were joined by Rolls-Royce, who said: “In light of the recent allegations, which are deeply concerning, we are suspending all interaction with the CBI with immediate effect.”
A spokesperson for ITV told Sky News that the broadcaster “will pause engagement with the CBI with immediate effect and will not renew our contract with them”.
Unilever also confirmed that they were severing ties, saying: “Due to the very serious and ongoing allegations, we can confirm that we have suspended our membership of the CBI.”
The John Lewis Partnership had earlier cited “further very serious and ongoing allegations” as the reason for quitting the organisation.
It’s not exaggerating to call this an existential crisis for the CBI
If one were to compile a list of some of the most prestigious blue-chip UK employers, it would probably include NatWest, BP, Shell, Aviva, the John Lewis Partnership, Virgin Media O2, WPP, Phoenix Group, BT, PwC, EY, Schroders and AstraZeneca.
Were that list to be enhanced with prestigious foreign-owned businesses that are major employers in the UK, and which enjoy a meaningful UK presence, it would probably extend to take in names such as BMW, Mastercard, Ford, Fidelity, Jaguar Land Rover and JP Morgan.
That underlines the crisis now engulfing the CBI. All of those companies have either paused their engagement with the employers organisation or cancelled their membership altogether in the wake of the latest allegations consuming the CBI.
It was bad enough that the CBI felt obliged to dismiss its former director-general, Tony Danker, amid allegations of workplace misconduct.
What made it worse was a report in The Guardian, the newspaper that first published details of the allegations against Mr Danker, that a former CBI employee had filed a complaint that she was raped at a party hosted by the organisation back in 2019.
That has now been made worse still by a second woman coming forward to say she had been raped by colleagues while working for the CBI.
It is not now over-exaggerating to say that this has become an existential crisis for the CBI.
Insurers start the flight
Insurer Aviva was first to reveal its hand on Friday, just moments after Sky News reported that abrdn, the FTSE 100 fund manager, was also considering its position with the organisation.
Fellow insurers Phoenix Group and Zurich swelled the exodus alongside the industry body the ABI while Virgin Media O2 also confirmed it had terminated its membership.
Asda, accountancy giant PwC and National Grid later confirmed they had suspended all activity with the business lobby group while Lloyds Banking Group was also understood to have done the same.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “Following these grave allegations, we have decided to pause our engagements with the CBI while these are investigated.”
“In light of the very serious allegations made, and the CBI‘s handling of the process and response, we believe the CBI is no longer able to fulfil its core function – to be a representative voice of business in the UK,” Aviva said.
“We have therefore regrettably terminated our membership with immediate effect.”
CBI president Brian McBride had previously admitted that a “handful” of its 190,000 members had departed since the crisis began.
Brian McBride was elected president of the CBI in June last year
They are known to have included, before Friday, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.
Shell is understood to have suspended dealings with the CBI last week.
The potential departure of abrdn would be acutely embarrassing for Mr McBride personally as he currently serves as a non-executive director at the firm.
Sky’s City editor Mark Kleinman reported that the board had been debating whether to terminate its status as a CBI member once a CBI-commissioned review of sexual abuse allegations against staff members had been completed.
A source said that alternatively it could decide not to renew its membership when it expires at the end of this year.
A string of blue-chip companies, including Rolls-Royce and Marks & Spencer, have raised public concerns about the crisis.
Last week, the CBI sacked Tony Danker, its director general, after saying it had lost confidence in his ability to lead the organisation amid claims about his personal conduct.
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Tony Danker was sacked on 11 April
Mr Danker told the BBC this week he had been “thrown under the bus” and said the allegations against him did not merit his dismissal.
He also apologised for making a number of CBI employees “uncomfortable”.
Business leaders have lined up in recent weeks to denounce its handling of the crisis, saying it had been too slow to apologise and had erred by appointing an insider, Rain Newton-Smith, as Mr Danker’s successor.
Three employees have been suspended, while a police investigation is under way.
The CBI said this week that the second phase of an inquiry by the law firm Fox Williams would conclude imminently.
“The board will be communicating its response to this and other steps we are taking to bring about the wider change that is needed early next week,” the group said on Thursday.
Partners of a company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone have said they are open to a possible settlement with the government after the company was found to have breached a £122m PPE contract.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had accused PPE Medpro of providing 25 million “faulty”, non-sterile gowns during the COVID pandemic.
The High Court ruled earlier this month that it must pay back a £121.9m sum, the price of the gowns.
PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Lady Mone‘s husband Doug Barrowman, filed to enter administration earlier this month.
In a statement on Friday, Mr Barrowman said: “The consortium partners of PPE Medpro are prepared to enter into a dialogue with the administrators of the company to discuss a possible settlement with the government.”
PPE Medpro has spent £4.3m defending its position.
It said offers to settle on a no-fault basis had been made, including the remake of 25 million gowns, or a £23m cash equivalent, which were rejected.
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Sky’s Paul Kelso analyses scandal surrounding Baroness Mone
The consortium was awarded government contracts by the former Conservative administration to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic after Lady Mone recommended it to ministers.
It insists that it provided all 25 million gowns and disputes that the gowns were not sterile.
It is understood the partners want to resolve the issue, and administrators have been urged to approach the government to reach an agreement.
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Reeves welcomes ruling on PPE contract breach
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In the High Court ruling, Mrs Justice Cockerill said the gowns “were not, contractually speaking, sterile, or properly validated as being sterile”. This meant they could not be used in the NHS.
Barristers for PPE Medro claimed it had been “singled out for unfair treatment” and accused the government of “buyer’s remorse”.
Michelle Mone recommended the firm, led by husband Doug Barrowman, to minsters. Pic: PA
It claimed the gowns had become defective because of the conditions they were kept in after being delivered. It also said the court made its ruling on a technicality.
Lady Mone branded the judgement a win for the “establishment”, while Mr Barrowman said it was a “travesty of justice”.
Baroness Mone, who created the lingerie brand Ultimo, was made a Conservative peer in 2015.
She now says she has “no wish to return” to the House of Lords.
Liz Hurley has encouraged women to check themselves for breast cancer – and warned some are not because they “are scared that it’s self-indulgent to spend time on themselves”.
The British actress and model, who has been a global ambassador for the Estee Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign for 30 years, told Sky News’ Jacquie Beltrao the demands of everyday life mean women “always put ourselves last”.
“We’re doing stuff for kids, for husbands, for mothers, for in-laws. There’s so much that we have to do that we tend to come last,” she said.
Hurley, whose grandmother died of breast cancer, said she finds it helps by thinking of breast checks as a way to “keep ourselves healthy in order to continue to take care of everybody else”.
That way, it “doesn’t seem self-indulgent or taking time away from something else, it seems really important”.
Checking one’s breasts “takes two minutes”, she added, or “about the same length of time as brushing your teeth”.
Hurley speaking to Sky’s Jacquie Beltrao
More than a third of women in the UK do not take up the first mammogram appointment they are offered, and a recent study of 500,000 women from Sweden found a similar non-attendance rate there.
More than 11,000 people die from breast cancer every year in the UK, or 31 each day, Cancer Research UK said.
That makes it the second most common form of cancer death, accounting for 7% of all cancer deaths, the charity said.
Asked whether some of the messaging had “fallen on deaf ears”, Hurley said attending screenings, which are free on the NHS, is “definitely advised”, and she suggested all women should familiarise themselves with their breasts.
In the past, the illness was seen as “a disease for older ladies. And we didn’t understand that younger women also get diagnosed. That’s been a lot in the news lately”, Hurley said.
“There appear to be more women, younger women being diagnosed. And that could well be one of the reasons is that people are more breast aware, more self-aware.”
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She told Ms Beltrao, who is a breast cancer survivor, people “have seen you on television talking about breast cancer”.
As a result of more awareness, she said, women have “begun to understand that it can never be too early to start checking your own breasts and to familiarise yourself [with them].
“When you’re younger and you’re not yet having regular mammograms, you do really have to be aware of your own breasts to be able to see if there’s a change, feel if there is a change and go to your doctor.”
The King’s coat of arms will be on the front of all new British passports from December, the Home Office has announced.
The inside pages have also been updated to include images of natural landscapes from all four UK nations, including Ben Nevis, the Lake District, Three Cliffs Bay, and the Giant’s Causeway.
The Home Office said the new passport is the first wholly new design in five years, and it will be the “most secure passport ever produced”.
It will include the latest anti-forgery technology, including new holographic and translucent features.
The updated features will improve verification and make passports significantly more resistant to forgery or tampering, the Home Office said.
The bio page of the new UK passport. Pic: PA
Migration and citizenship minister Mike Tapp said: “The introduction of His Majesty’s arms, iconic landscapes, and enhanced security features marks a new era in the history of the British passport.
“It also demonstrates our commitment to outstanding public service – celebrating British heritage while ensuring our passports remain among the most secure and trusted in the world for years to come.”
The Home Office has confirmed that passports bearing Queen Elizabeth II‘s coat of arms will remain valid until their printed expiry date.
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However, it advised travellers to check their passports’ validity and renew them well in advance of any upcoming trips.
The first modern British passport was introduced over a hundred years ago, in 1915.
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