CBI ‘suspending’ all activity after firms pull membership over second rape allegation

Future of trade body in doubt until June meeting after sexual misconduct scandals

The CBI is “suspending all policy and membership activity” until an extraordinary general meeting to decide its future, after dozens of firms ended or paused their relationship with the trade body following allegations of sexual misconduct against its staff.

The continued existence of the organisation is in doubt after an exodus of corporate members following reports of a second rape allegation by a female employee, which came days after the director general Tony Danker was sacked over separate allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

“We are deeply sorry,” the organisation’s board said in a statement late on Friday announcing the suspension of activity.

NatWest joined the John Lewis Partnership, BMW and Virgin Media O2 in withdrawing from the trade body.

Other major employers, including Asda, Lloyds Banking Group, Unilever, Scottish Power, the British Beer and Pub Association, and Shell, have suspended their involvement with the lobbying group.

In the statement, the CBI board said: “We want to properly understand from our colleagues, members, experts and stakeholders how they envisage our future role and purpose. As a result, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to suspend all policy and membership activity until an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in June.

“At the EGM we will put forward proposals for a refocused CBI to our membership for them to decide on the future role and purpose of the organisation. This work and the cultural reform will be the entire and urgent focus of the organisation over the coming weeks.”

The crisis facing the trade group deepened after The Guardian reported on Friday that a female employee had claimed to have been raped by two male colleagues while she was unconscious following a night out while working at a CBI office abroad.

She is reported to have said she had no recollection of the rape itself, but to have described in detail the physical signs that led her to believe she had been raped. She also claimed that she was later shown an explicit photograph in the office.

Previously, a member of staff alleged that she was attacked by a manager at a party on a boat in the summer of 2019.

City of London Police were already investigating the first rape allegation alongside a series of other misconduct claims from about a dozen workers.

On Wednesday, Mr Danker said his reputation had been “totally destroyed” by the separate allegations made against him, and claimed he had been made a “fall guy” for the wider crisis within the organisation.