Boris Johnson, Brexit and no deal are now ingrained in the national psyche. The government is to launch a mass advertising campaign aiming to “prepare” us for crashing out of Europe. Blitz spirit. Tin hats. Nothing that a bit of optimism won’t solve.
In 2016, the EU referendum result was seen by many as the worst UK foreign policy calamity since Suez, an egregious act of economic self-harm. It would cause irreparable damage to Britain’s place in the world. Business groups went into emergency session, expressing their dismay and trying to work out what to do for their members. I was then running the UK’s creative industries body, 96% of which had backed remain. What would happen to Britain’s much vaunted openness? How would we continue to attract global talent?
The questions kept coming. None of them has been answered. Yet, the worse the situation becomes, the quieter the voices.
A few months ago, as I was contacting a number of chief executives to discuss calling for a people’s vote, one replied: “I don’t like to get involved in things like that.” This senior figure of a large, European-owned company was adamant that they “don’t do politics”. I scratched my head.
Only once in a while does one hear a peep out of the trade bodies. Today, the Confederation of British Industry warned companies to step up their preparations for a no-deal Brexit. It tells employers to ready themselves for mass disruption. The advice is detailed and helpful. But where is the politics? Where is the flexing of muscles? Where is the fury at what is being done to businesses, large and small? For the past three years, business has been timid, even cowardly.
There are a number of reasons for this. First, the perpetual attacks from the populist-nationalist right and the hard left against business has taken its toll. CEOs have begun to believe the rhetoric that they only represent the “elite”. In some cases – the banks, utilities, other FTSE companies that overpay their senior executives – that rings true. But the vast majority of small and medium-sized businesses are doing their best to provide jobs. Brexit catastrophically undermines that. Just ask the car companies: in the latest instance, Vauxhall says 1,000 jobs are at risk after Brexit.
Second is ingratiation. I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is to buy people’s compliance. Governments use a range of inducements. Chairs and chief execs love nothing more than being invited into the inner sanctum. The evening reception or business roundtable at No 10 is what they’ve worked towards all their careers. They might even be asked to head a government commission. The most popular reward designed to buy silence and sycophancy is, of course, the gong.
The most complex reason for their reticence is habituation, or as the Cambridge Dictionary describes it: “The process of people or animals becoming used to something, so that they no longer find it unpleasant or think it is a threat.” It was a common behaviour trait during the dictatorships of the 20th century. It takes a number of forms. One is denial and a suspension of intellectual faculties. People convince themselves that things are really not that bad. Conjure that blitz spirit: it’s hard, but we’ll get through this.
Finally comes displacement therapy. Trade bodies ululate on Twitter that a deputy minister for tiddlywinks has graced their annual reception, celebrating the fact that they have won a concession on a minor piece of policy. It’s a modern-day version of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
In Britain and the US, what was previously regarded as extreme has become mainstream. The notion of an EU departure was, until very recently, dismissed as a fringe activity; but even after that shock, it was generally assumed a soft landing would be agreed. The idea of no deal would have been regarded as beyond comprehension. In the same vein, in the US, Donald Trump has successfully moved the boundaries of acceptability and, instead of using its muscle, business and most of public life has gone along with it.
Some chief executives say, “Why alienate part of our customer base?” On those terms you would never say or do anything about anything – inequality, the climate emergency – because someone out there might disagree. But speaking out against Brexit and Trump should be an exception. Perhaps the bravest CEO at the moment is Siemens’ Joe Kaeser, who regularly denounces the German far-right AfD while most of his fellow industry leaders remain silent.
Stay out of trouble. Don’t rock the boat. Keep in with the powerful. Given the state of the world now, given the impending crisis set to befall us on 31 October, how bad do things need to be? It’s time our business leaders begin to show some spine.
• John Kampfner is the founder and former CEO of the Creative Industries Federation
