- MINISTER FOR ECONOMY AND TRANSPORT KEN SKATES AM DINED SEVERAL TIMES WITH LOBBYISTS FROM THE CONFEDERATION FOR BRITISH INDUSTRY (CBI), WHICH HAS STRONG LINKS TO THE FRACKING GIANT INEOS – THE COMPANY WHICH LATER RECEIVED MILLIONS OF POUNDS IN A WELSH GOV DEAL.
- INEOS GROUP DIRECTOR IS TOM CROTTY, WHO IS ALSO HEAD OF THE CBI MANUFACTURING COUNCIL. FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT INEOS WAS TO RECEIVE MILLIONS IN STATE MONEY, CROTTY SPOKE TO THE BBC TO PRAISE THE DECISION.
- KEN SKATES ALSO SET UP THE NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE COMMISSION FOR WALES (NICW), WHICH ADVISES WELSH GOVERNMENT ON WHICH COMPANIES SHOULD GET PUBLIC MONEY. THE CBI HAD LOBBIED FOR THE CREATION OF THE NICW, AND TWO CBI FIGURES WERE APPOINTED TO THE BOARD THAT WOULD HELP DECIDE ON STATE PAYOUTS.
- IN 2016, SKATES ALSO APPOINTED THE THEN DIRECTOR OF THE CBI IN WALES EMMA WATKINS TO A KEY POSITION IN GOVERNMENT – DEPUTY DIRECTOR TO BUSINESS AND SECTORS. THE CBI REPRESENTS BIG BUSINESS AND ITS MEMBERS DONATED MILLIONS TO THE CONSERVATIVE ELECTION CAMPAIGN, AS WELL AS PUBLICLY CONDEMNING LABOUR’S TAX AND NATIONALISATION PLANS.
- QUESTIONS RAISED OVER WELSH GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN FUTURE UK/US TRADE NEGOTIATIONS.
By Mark S Redfern @genericredfern
A senior Welsh Government Minister dined several times with one of Britain’s most influential business lobbying groups prior to signing off on a deal with a fracking company closely tied to the organisation.
Ken Skates AM, Minister for Economy and Transport, pictured above, said in September 2019 that the payout to petro-chemicals giant Ineos was not the rumoured £13million but did not rule out a figure lower than that.
Ineos, owned by Britain’s richest man, is a major player in the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), with the company’s group director also sitting on the CBI Manufacturing council. Skates had 7 recorded meetings with CBI representatives in the last 4 years and dined with the organisation at least 4 more times since January 2017, according to Welsh Government transparency data.
As well as this, the minister has attended the annual get-together for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) for the last four years running, serving as their keynote speaker and principal contact within Welsh Government
Fracking-giant Ineos is one of 190,000 businesses the CBI aims to represent, but the company is more than just an ordinary member.
The head of the CBI Manufacturing Council is Tom Crotty. This council exists to push the interests of factory owners on governments and describes its aims as “developing a new industrial strategy that supports productivity.” Crotty is also Group Director at Ineos.
When plans were announced for Welsh Government money to be given to a new Ineos venture, an off-road vehicle factory in Bridgend, Crotty was quoted by BBC Wales as a spokesperson for the company, saying that “It’s a great area with an industrial tradition, and… there’s some really great skilled people and we’re going to need up to 500 really skilled people”. The specific number of 500 jobs is also repeated in Welsh Government literature.
Ineos also received a UK government grant for developing eco-friendly 4x4s, which are due to be made in Bridgend under the deal with Welsh Government. But the company now appear to have dropped this ambition of eco-friendly vehicles and instead gone back to using normal, more polluting combustion engines. Questions will now be raised about the relationship between Ken Skates, Ineos and the CBI and the decision to help fund the company’s venture with a large amount of public money.
The CBI is a corporate lobby group whose main aims, according to Friends of the Earth, are “to increase deregulation and reduce business taxes.”
They are known for pushing their objectives on politicians by lobbying ministers through sponsored events and lavish dinners. The Ministerial Code aims to curb their effect, telling those who abide by it that: “Ministers should not meet formally with professional public affairs organisations (lobbyists) seeking to influence the views or decisions of Government.”
Information about what is discussed during dinners between ministers and lobbyists is not recorded. Ministers are also not obligated to record informal meetings that take place during conferences and ministerial events, or phone conversations.As these informal meetings can take place with no record, the actual number of meetings between ministers and lobbyists can be higher than is publicly known.
Skate’s relationship with the CBI is also brought into question by the formation of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW), which exists to advise the government on how they can best spend taxpayer money on Welsh infrastructure for future generations.
The NICW was created shortly after Skates took up his ministerial role. At the time, the then-director of the CBI in Wales, Emma Watkins, praised Welsh Government for setting it up: “CBI members called for the creation of an independent infrastructure commission for Wales in our manifesto for the Assembly election, so we are pleased the new Welsh Government will create such a body,” she told WalesOnline.
There are two CBI lobbyists among the academics and politicians sitting on the NICW board, deciding where public money should be spent. These are Stephen Gifford and Chris Sutton. Gifford has served as Director of Economics at CBI since 2013, whereas Sutton has sat on the CBI Wales Council since 2008 and has progressed steadily through their ranks.
Shortly after this, Emma Watkins left her role as head of CBI Wales to take up a new position in Welsh Government as Deputy Director to Business and Sectors in 2016. It was reported at the time that: “In her new role she will oversee relationships between some of the biggest firms in Wales.”
The CBI is stringently against nationalised public services, too. In mid-October 2019 the lobby was caught attacking plans by the Labour party to renationalise services with exaggerated figures.
Labour’s plans to re-nationalise industry and run it for the benefit of the public purse set them on a collision course with the CBI and raises questions about Ken Skate’s own commitment to the party’s plans.
This isn’t the first time Skates has been caught out with policy influencers. In March 2019 he was found to be talking with a commercial lobbyist in a meeting set-up by fellow Welsh Labour politician Jack Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside.
The Welsh government’s response was that they had “since changed our processes to prevent such a misunderstanding from happening again.”
The prospect of business gaining further influence in Wales was brought to the fore again as Boris Johsnon passed his Brexit Deal, which committed UK trade negotiations to be held in secret. This opens the door to US corporations gaining access to Welsh public services as well as driving down regulatory standards without having to declare it.
Skates’ position here will be crucial in deciding what these trade talks mean for people in Wales and how fiercely they are scrutinised. His record, however, raises big questions about whether or not he is prepared to stand up to big business.
