Thursday, 24 May 2012

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Substance over form'

Am I alone in getting increasingly frustrated by politics taking precedence over substance? I've been listening in recent days to the spat between Adrian Beecroft and Vince Cable about the former's report on employment law, with Chuka Umunna's contribution adding plenty of fuel to the fire.  My frustration is that there has been very little talk about the detail of the report with most of the debate focused on whether or not Vince Cable should be called a socialist, and whether Adrian Beecroft's background (he has a career in private equity and is a substantial donor to the conservative party) makes him even the right person to write the report.

All very interesting and media worthy but what I'm more interested in is the content of the report, the recommendations it makes, and how they might – or might not – benefit the economy.  Sadly, the real detail and its potential impacts is conspicuous by its absence from most reporting.  I've downloaded the draft of 12 October 2011 and the published version of 24 October 2011 to my Kindle and will have a read through over the next couple of days.  I'll be able to draw my own conclusions then and filter out the noise of the politics and rhetoric.

On a separate note, I've had some really interesting meetings this week and will be able to share more details in my blog next week.  In essence, I've seen a really good example of the Government working with the wider business community to deliver growth through tangible and practical support.  Sometimes Government has to create an environment in which something can be created and delivered without its direct and ongoing involvement.  I believe I'm seeing an excellent example of that, but more next time…

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