Watching the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) conference today, the link between David Cameron and Chuka Umunna’s speeches to business leaders was striking. Both made points about political consensus on business policy, and it appears they have both concluded what party political business rifts mean: bad news for Labour.
The Prime Minister made a crafty political point when he compared Ed Miliband’s attitude to enterprise with those of his predecessors:
I want to say something very frank. I’ve sat in parliament from 2001 to 2015. For the first nine years of that, I had opposite me on those green benches Tony Blair and Gordon Brown . . . and whatever else we disagreed on, we agreed that business is the generator of growth. That long-held consensus in British politics is now over.
His aim was clear: capitalise on the New Labour figures, like Peter Mandelson, who are making unwelcome interventions concerning Miliband’s relationship with business, and suggest to the country that there is now only one party on the side of business.
Chuka Umunna also referred to “consensus”:
Maybe it’s controversial to say this in Westminster – there is a lot more consensus around business policy than [you’re] led to believe.
The emphasis of the shadow business secretary’s comment, made during a Q+A following his speech, was that the gulf between Labour and Tory approaches to British business is nowhere near as great as suggested by the press and Labour’s detractors.
Both seem to subscribe to a consensus on one thing: Labour being perceived as too distant from the Tories, or the previous government, on business could harm the party electorally.
Update 17.14
A source close to Umunna tells me: “The context of Chuka’s remarks on consensus was Cameron’s overly party political tone. By turning up and making such a party political speech today, and by using Tory donors to attack Labour, he is undermining what business leaders want – political parties working together where they agree, and not simply abolishing what previous governments have done.”
Indeed, Umunna mentioned in his speech his “motto” for if he becomes Business Secretary in the next governement: “Continuity wherever possible; change only where necessary.” This approach will appeal to a business community exasperated by party politics and the electoral cycle hindering its stability.
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