CBI is ‘voice of Brussels’

Vote Leave said research found that only 1 per cent of all CBI press releases are critical of the EU.

The campaign group said in the year’s worth of CBI press releases, the leading business lobby did not challenge a single one of the 2,337 new laws the EU passed - or a single one of 852 new EU court judgments issued in the same period.

Peter Cruddas, co-treasurer at Vote Leave, said: “The CBI claims to be the ‘voice of business’ but it is more interested in promoting the EU than fighting for what is good for Britain.

“The CBI leadership uses polling to justify its pro-EU stance which is out of kilter with mainstream business opinion. They tell Ministers not to push for reform when most businesses think that the EU hinders rather than helps them.

“The CBI is funded by the EU so it is no surprise that it almost never criticises it. The CBI is not properly representing British business interests - it is the voice of Brussels.”

Vote Leave directors include Alan Halsall of Silver Cross Prams, the Skipton-based business.

A spokesman for the CBI rubbished the criticism from Vote Leave. He said: “This petty claim is simply the latest in a systematic attack from Vote Leave/Business for Britain – a single issue campaign group that wants the UK to quit the EU – and whose aim is to neutralise the CBI in the EU debate for representing the views of the majority of our members who want the UK to remain in a reformed EU.”

He said CBI president Paul Drechsler will rebut Vote Leave’s claims in detail in his speech to annual conference today.

The spokesman added: “The CBI is not a single issue campaign group like Vote Leave, but speaks on multiple issues that affect business and the economy, including on education and skills, infrastructure, employment issues and public services reform – as well as on ensuring the EU works better for businesses and consumers.

“We’ve been clear that the EU is far from perfect and needs to be more focused on growth, jobs and trade. That includes tackling areas of burdensome lifestyle and employment regulation, and further integration in the Eurozone isn’t something the UK wants to be part of.”