CBI chief slams Labour's grasp of business as economy stalls

Rupert Soames, the outgoing chairman of the Confederation of British Industry, said Labour's leadership shows a 'shocking' lack of understanding of business, telling the BBC that ministers find it hard to put themselves in the shoes of running companies. Soames said he never believed Labour's pre-election 'prawn cocktail' outreach and dismissed it as performative.

"When I go and meet MPs and ministers I find it really, really shocking how little understanding they have of the world of business," he said. "They would say that, wouldn’t they, that business leaders are incapable of being anything other than rampant capitalists." He added: "I do sense that this government is one that finds it hard to put itself into the shoes of large and medium size and small businesses." Soames also argued that ministers have translated that sentiment into a willingness not to listen to the people who run firms. "On the other hand they translate that into saying, we won’t listen to the people who have." He also criticized the Labour outreach: "I sat in countless meetings where shadow ministers were sitting there with their notebooks and dutifully taking down the pearls of wisdom that were coming from business people. I don’t think they were really listening at all. A lot of that was in my view quite performative."

Those comments come days after official figures showed the economy shrank in October, a fresh blow to the government's growth hopes. Keir Starmer has said that growth is Labour's number one mission, but business leaders have grown alarmed as the party signals higher taxes and new rules on workers’ rights that could affect employers.

Soames argued the government lacks experience in employing people: "very few people who have worked in business in a way that has involved them employing people" are in Parliament or the executive, he said, warning that having more policy-makers without firsthand business knowledge risks misreading the realities faced by firms.

With Soames stepping down as CBI chair, his criticisms come at a moment when business groups are weighing how Labour's policy agenda would affect hiring decisions, investment and growth. The CBI has long pressed for pro-growth measures and stable, predictable policy environments that reassure employers and investors. The latest remarks underline ongoing tensions between a Labour opposition presenting its economic plan and a business community seeking assurances about how that plan would translate into practical effects for firms across sizes.