Sunak business advisers stay neutral as election business row rages
Rishi Sunak’s committee of business advisers refused to publicly back the government’s economic policy record on Tuesday amid an escalating row over Labour’s efforts to steal the Conservative Party’s traditional mantle as ‘the party of business’.
Sky News contacted all 15 of the companies represented on the prime minister’s business council to see whether their bosses would publicly endorse the Tories, but none agreed to do so.
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Among the companies whose executives sat on the council – which is thought to have met no more than twice since its launch in January – were BT Group, ITV, Nationwide and Unilever.
Rolls Royce Holdings, the aircraft engine manufacturer, agreed to let its Derby headquarters be used for a campaign speech by Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, on Tuesday, but said it remained neutral.
Its chief executive, Tufan Erginbilgic, has also been a member of Mr Sunak’s business council since its launch.
Some of the 15 companies failed to respond to enquiries from Sky News, while others said either officially or on an unattributable basis that they would remain politically neutral during the election campaign.
One of those involved said its chief executive’s participation in the council was aimed at contributing views in order to influence government policy.
“[Their] involvement is not a direct endorsement of the governing political party’s views as these will be many and varied,” the company said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Although that neutrality is not unusual for the bosses of major public companies, it highlights the difficulty that the Tories will have in the lead-up to 4 July in persuading major corporate names to publicly back the party.
The Tories have historically trumped Labour in securing public endorsements from big business, but were beaten out of the traps this time with a pro-Labour letter signed by more than 120 businesspeople and published on Tuesday.
None of the signatories of the Labour letter are serving FTSE-100 chief executives, with the only current public company heavyweight on the list being Andy Higginson, the chairman of JD Sports Fashion.
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Ian King, Sky News’s business presenter, revealed later on Tuesday that a number of the companies listed as supporters were dormant, while one of the signatories, WPP executive Karen Blackett, had already left the company she was cited as working for.
Labour also came under fire from Unite, the trade union, for trumpeting the involvement of John Holland-Kaye, the former Heathrow Airport chief executive, because of his use of controversial ‘fire and rehire’ processes during the pandemic.
In the pro-Labour letter, the business signatories said that Britain’s economy was “beset by instability, stagnation, and a lack of long-term focus”.
Sky News revealed last week that the Tories have contacted business leaders since Mr Sunak called the election, asking them to take part in broadcast media opportunities, provide quotes in support of manifesto pledges and host events and visits for cabinet ministers.
Those efforts are being spearheaded by Lord Petitgas, the former Morgan Stanley executive, who for months has been the prime minister’s special adviser on business.
Tory insiders dismissed the Labour letter as “a damp squib” which showed that Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves had “completely failed to win the trust of major companies in the UK”.
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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