Boris Johnson to shake up business advisory council amid backlash at CBI speech
Downing Street officials have started working on an overhaul of the Build Back Better Council, which advises Boris Johnson on a range of economic and business issues, Sky News learns.
Downing Street has started work on a shake-up of Boris Johnson's business advisers amid a backlash over his widely criticised speech at the CBI's annual conference.
Sky News has learnt that officials in Number 10 have contacted members of the Build Back Better Council (BBBC) in recent weeks to inform them that their involvement would not be required in 2022.
The group, which launched in January, had 30 participants, including the bosses of major British employers such as Balfour Beatty, BP, British Airways, BT Group, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC Holdings and ITV.
Its members were appointed for a term of 12 months, and Downing Street is now said to be considering a new slate of names to appoint to join the council in 2022.
One senior business figure said it was unclear whether the membership of the BBBC would be as large after the current crop of members are removed, or whether it would continue in its existing form.
Other companies represented on the council include Darktrace, Jaguar Land Rover, Tesco and Unilever.
The details will be closely watched by the business community amid fresh doubts about Mr Johnson's engagement with the private sector after his keynote address at the CBI event on Monday.
The PM lost his way several times during the speech, referring to the children's cartoon character Peppa Pig as part of an effort to hail British creativity.
A Downing Street source said: "Details on the future of the prime minister's business council will be forthcoming in due course.
"The Build Back Better Business Council is one element of the prime minister's regular and ongoing engagement with business: including with SMEs, trades unions, and business representative groups."
Sky News has learnt that officials in Number 10 have contacted members of the Build Back Better Council (BBBC) in recent weeks to inform them that their involvement would not be required in 2022.
The group, which launched in January, had 30 participants, including the bosses of major British employers such as Balfour Beatty, BP, British Airways, BT Group, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC Holdings and ITV.
Its members were appointed for a term of 12 months, and Downing Street is now said to be considering a new slate of names to appoint to join the council in 2022.
One senior business figure said it was unclear whether the membership of the BBBC would be as large after the current crop of members are removed, or whether it would continue in its existing form.
Other companies represented on the council include Darktrace, Jaguar Land Rover, Tesco and Unilever.
The details will be closely watched by the business community amid fresh doubts about Mr Johnson's engagement with the private sector after his keynote address at the CBI event on Monday.
The PM lost his way several times during the speech, referring to the children's cartoon character Peppa Pig as part of an effort to hail British creativity.
A Downing Street source said: "Details on the future of the prime minister's business council will be forthcoming in due course.
"The Build Back Better Business Council is one element of the prime minister's regular and ongoing engagement with business: including with SMEs, trades unions, and business representative groups."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
