Business is not the bogeyman, furious bosses tell Johnson
BORIS JOHNSON has been accused of waging war on business and treating bosses like ‘bogeymen’ to escape the blame for fuel and grocery shortages.
He was also labelled ‘economically illiterate’ over his policy-light speech at the Conservative party conference.
The criticism follows major labour shortages – especially among HGV drivers – which have led to empty supermarket shelves and lengthy queues at petrol stations.
The PM has resisted calls to further ease post-Brexit visa restrictions to recruit more drivers from abroad, insisting he will not pull ‘the lever of uncontrolled immigration’. And he has accused bosses of using cheap labour as ‘an excuse’ not to invest in their companies or staff.
His government is instead pursuing a ‘low-tax, high-wage’ economy, he said.
But business leaders warned that will lead to higher inflation and increased costs for consumers.
Richard Walker, the Leave-supporting boss of Iceland, said: ‘Pointing the finger at us as the bogeymen for driver shortages is not helpful.’
And Tony Danker, head of the CBI, said firms were ‘infuriated by the tone’ of Mr Johnson’s 45-minute speech.
Think-tank the Adam Smith mith InstiInsti tute was also scathing – calling it ‘vacuous’.
And the Federation of Small Businesses said Labour, not the Tories, were the only party offering ‘pro-small business policies’.
But education secretary Nadhim Zahawi denied No.10 was ‘on the warpath’ with business. He said: ‘Let’s produce that high-wage, high-skill economy. The way you do that is by upskilling and reskilling.’