Rupert Soames complained at #cbi24 about the seeming incoherence of Labour policy, trying via DWP to get more people into work while tax changes and labour market reforms make it harder.
But it's possible HMG sees a coherent plan: raise supply of labour, and not the demand for it (at lower end) 2/
Arguably the most aggressive attack on the Budget has come from the President of the CBI, Rupert Soames, who accused it of not noticing when all its different policy ventures are pushing against one another and the imperative to hire more people. #CBI24
'It is going to be up to business to make those investments and grow the economy' - Rachel Reeves addresses businesses at #CBI24
'public services now need to live in the means that we have set them'
Rachel Reeves speaks about how we have public service reform in the means that were outlined in the Budget.
#CBI24
'I want you to judge this government brining growth back to UK the economy'
'this won't happen overnight but over the course of this parliament'
#CBI24
'I had to make a number of difficult decisions, but if I hadn't we would not have brought the stability that we needed' - Rachel Reeves speaks at #CBI24
Good to hear Tania Kumar, the CBI’s net zero policy director hail the return of UK climate leadership at #COP29. #CBI24.
In her speech to #CBI24 Kemi Badenoch just claimed that the government is spending “more on debt servicing than we are on health or education or defense”.
Not true.
In 2023/24 gov spent
- £102 billion on debt servicing;
- £115 billion on education; and
- £239 billion on healthcare
Lots on the bureaucratic state & why government doesn’t work, genuinely interesting stuff. But at a conference with a big focus on net zero, & to lots of businesses who see the investment, productivity & growth benefits of green policies, there was no mention of climate or the environment. #CBI24
'We have to be more precise when we talk about growth... I am talking about real growth, growth people can see, growth people can feel' - @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social at #CBI24
Think a great thing for a politician to say at #cbi24 is "You're all overpaid wastes of space, we could sack the lot of you tomorrow and it would make no bloody difference"
We really need to challenge our society's almost cult like attitude to "business leaders".
'Capitalism is not a dirty word, wealth is not a dirty word, profit is not a dirty word' - @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social at #CBI24
'We need to have free enterprise, we conservatives must be the party of business' - @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social at #CBI24
'I have made sure the Conservatives in the most business facing roles are people who have run businesses before' @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social speaks at #CBI24
Kemi Badenoch speaking at #CBI24 and intending to start on punchy form: "let's be honest, some jobs are productive and some less so".
Goes on to extol the business experience of Mel Stride and Andrew Griffith, appropriate for their portfolios.
'We conservatives got things wrong and unless we explain where we got those things wrong' - @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social speaks at #CBI24
'Government needs to get out of the way' - @kemibadenochmp.bsky.social speaks about the importance of businesses leading the way on growth.
#CBI24
Spending the day here. Big audience, impressive range of panellists, excellent conversations. And that’s before the first coffee break. #CBI24
Juergen is speaking now. Surprise him by adding 1000 followers by the time he stops... He's the boss of Great British Energy and always has interesting stuff to say.
#CBI24
Looking forward to joining and speaking at #CBI24 conference this morning. The climate for business investment remains tough, but the #energytransition is a key opportunity, and the stars seem aligned for us to accelerate progress. We must do that in a positive spirit of public private partnership.
