It’s becoming increasingly clear that trying to explain the value of private enterprise to Marxists is an exercise in what Churchill described as feeding a crocodile, hoping it will eat you last, writes James Price
As the great wordsmith George W Bush once said: “Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” This masterpiece of eloquence neatly sums up how much of the business sector in the UK is now feeling after the first months of the new Labour government.
What was promised over breakfasts of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs was a business-friendly regime, comfortable with private enterprise and focused on growth. But what’s happened since has left a nasty taste. And the only egg is on the faces of those who believed that the same people who tried to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister a few short years ago had become enthusiasts for capitalism.
Fast forward to this week’s brutal Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference and it’s increasingly clear that trying to explain the inherent worth of private enterprise to Marxists is an exercise in what Churchill described as feeding a crocodile hoping it will eat you last.
The CBI boss Rain Newton-Smith came out swinging, saying that “tax rises like this must never again simply be done to business” and that the Chancellor’s policies meant businesses were facing “a tough trading environment that just got tougher”. Even the boss of biscuit maker McVitie’s warned that it was “becoming harder to understand” the case for backing Britain because of Rachel Reeves’ decisions. Crumbs!
In response, Reeves told businesses that she is “not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes”. Why on earth should business leaders or markets, let alone voters, ever believe her on anything ever again? Fool me once, indeed…
Labour’s lies
Increasingly connected to Labour’s punitive attacks on businesses is the story about Reeves’ concocted CV, a row that refuses to go away. It strikes a chord with the lies upon lies that Labour told before, during and after the election.
If someone pretends to be a lawyer or a Doctor, it is rightly considered a criminal offence. For the occupant of the second highest office on the land to exaggerate her credentials as an economist is a similar level of deception. Many millions held their noses and voted Labour partly because they were led to believe that she was a dependable, serious figure, and were told as much by many in the media.
This calumny, piled on top of the punishment budget that targets family farmers, striving entrepreneurs and anyone else that wants to push on in life (despite much evidence that the policies will fail to raise any money) makes people rightly feel that they have been conned by a class warrior in a trouser suit.
People feel they have conned by a class warrior in a trouser suit
Very well, you may say, but isn’t this what the British public voted for by a landslide? But consider the porkies that Labour told in during the election campaign: The entire frontbench said taxes wouldn’t go up on working people – they have; Reeves said she wouldn’t ‘fiddle the figures’ to borrow more – she has; Keir Starmer claimed people wouldn’t pay more council tax – they will; Steve Reed said he had no intention of whacking farmers with farm-destroying taxes – he is.
I will run out of space here long before I finish this list, but the point is clear. The British electorate and business alike were lied to. We’ve been fooled once – let’s not be fooled again.
James Price is a former government advisor