U.K.’s Cameron Says He’s ‘Sick of Anti-Business Snobbery’
February 23, 2012, 10:30 AM ESTBy Robert Hutton
(Updates with Labour Party response in sixth paragraph.)
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron urged corporate leaders to defend business and the free markets from “dangerous rhetoric,” less than a month after his government stripped banker Fred Goodwin of his knighthood.
In a speech in London to charity Business In The Community, Cameron criticized the idea “that wealth creation is somehow anti-social,” arguing that “business is not just about making money, as vital as that is; it’s also the most powerful force for social progress the world has ever known.”
Cameron has attacked business himself in recent months. In January he effectively ordered a government committee to examine whether former Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc chief executive Goodwin should keep his knighthood. Two weeks later it concluded he shouldn’t.
Today he said recent attacks on companies such as Tesco Plc for offering unpaid work experience places to the unemployed have gone too far.
“Put a young person into college for a month’s learning, unpaid, and it’s hailed as a good thing,” Cameron said. “Put a young person into a supermarket for a month’s learning, unpaid, and it’s slammed as slave labor. Frankly I am sick of this anti- business snobbery.”
Chuka Umunna, Business Spokesman for the opposition Labour Party, said Cameron was “confused and inconsistent.”
‘Moral Capitalism’
“Last month he gave a ‘moral capitalism’ speech saying he would stand up to vested interests for the sake of our economy, our businesses and society,” Umunna said in an e-mailed statement. “This month he has abandoned that agenda instead seeking to smear those who argue for a more responsible capitalism by claiming they are anti-wealth creation and guilty of snobbery.”
Cameron announced the foundation of an Open Business Forum, to encourage companies to make their data publicly available.
“Imagine the possibilities for responsible business,” he said. “You could get people choosing mobile phone companies not just on their tariffs but their carbon emissions, or supermarkets not just on price but how green they are.”
Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Business Secretary Vince Cable announced a further 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of government money for the Regional Growth Fund, which is designed to help companies invest in projects that create jobs.
At the Business In The Community event, Lloyds Banking Group Plc said it is seconding up to 20 senior staff to act as advisers for the charity, helping small companies and young people.
--Editors: Patrick G. Henry, Leon Mangasarian.
Lloy LN <EQUITY>
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net.
