Business chief: Corbyn will lose

A BUSINESS leader yesterday said Labour could not win power under Jeremy Corbyn.

Simon Walker accused the Labour leader and his allies of having no understanding of business and of believing that ‘productive enterprise is a badge of shame’.

He insisted that the Institute of Directors he led was non-political and pointed out that he himself had chaired the Labour club at Oxford University in the early 1970s.

But he said Mr Corbyn and his allies did not understand the importance of business in generating money for schools, hospitals and public services. Speaking at the IoD’s conference in the Albert Hall a day after Labour outlined a string of left-wing policies, Mr Walker said it would be hard for businesses to work with the party without new leadership. He bemoaned the party’s inability to hold Theresa May’s government to account.

He said: ‘Opposition parties of any political colour can engage productively with business, taming the excesses of capitalism, and – vitally – monitoring government: keeping the other guys honest. But for this to be effective there has to be some prospect of ever winning an election. At the moment, that is entirely absent.’

Chris Leslie, who served briefly as shadow chancellor, said Labour would have to double income tax, council tax and VAT to pay for its plans. His successor John McDonnell insisted his plans ‘in no way’ implied higher taxation.

He also defended his proposal for a £10-anhour living wage: ‘The last thing we want to do is introduce a minimum wage that has consequences for jobs.’