CBI: 50 YEARS OF BUSINESS INNOVATION | A CHANGING SOCIETY
was committed to the Social Chapter, a National Minimum Wage (NMW) and compulsory trade union recognition. While there was a greater convergence
between Labour and Conservatives on the economic policy, there was also now an increased focus on social partnership. The decision by the CBI to accept a seat on the Low Payment Commission and thus influence the level and implementation of the NMW was a sign of the acceptance of a political middle ground under the Blair administration. As the economy settled into a period of steady growth and low inflation, issues such as investment in public services, infrastructure, climate change, transport and skills provided the focus for debate. The handover of power from Mr Blair to his
powers in the workplace. Meanwhile the Thatcher era would see 10 different politicians act as Trade & Industry Secretary, although all were broadly behind the agenda of rolling back the state and incentivising the private sector. The fall of Mrs Thatcher in 1990 and her
replacement by John Major enabled business organisations to play a more central role. In 1992, the CBI set up the National Manufacturing Council to focus on the “key strengths and weakness of UK manufacturing industry in relation to its main
Above and opposite: Blair introduced an increased focus on social partnership, while deficit reduction has been the order of the day under the Coalition
competitors”. As President of the Board of Trade, Michael Heseltine set his own stamp on the Major government with his pledge at the 1992 Conservative Party conference to intervene in industry “before breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner”.
THE THIRD WAY The election of a Labour government in 1997 after 18 years of Conservative rule under Mrs Thatcher and John Major ushered in a so-called “third way” in politics and a new relationship between business and government. While the policies set out by Tony Blair on taxation, inflation, industry and union rights were not that different from the Conservatives, the new government
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Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2007 appeared to be a continuation of business as usual. However, the onset of the global financial crisis later that year marked an end to the political middle ground between Labour and Conservatives as the two parties disagreed vehemently on both the causes of, and solutions to, the problems. Following the 2010 general election that led
to the first coalition government in the UK since the Second World War, the focus has been on a programme of deficit reduction and controlled public spending, a strategy that the CBI called for and supported throughout. Britain is in uncharted waters politically. The rise of the UK Independence Party has altered the balance of power among the three main political parties. With the possibility of another coalition government emerging from the 2015 general election the CBI will seek to ensure that it remains the voice of business in Westminster and Whitehall – whoever resides in 10 Downing Street.
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