A senior politician pulled out of an event arranged by the Confederation of British Industry after the lobby group faced fresh allegations of sexual harassment, drug use and rape among its staff.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, was listed as the key guest at a political engagement dinner for the CBI on April 25, intended to introduce business leaders to senior figures from the opposition Labour Party.
However, Nandy will no longer attend the dinner in light of the accusations against the CBI, a person familiar with the situation said. A spokesperson for Nandy confirmed she would not be attending the event.
The decision followed a report in the Guardian newspaper on Monday that the CBI had widened an inquiry launched last month after its director general, Tony Danker, stepped aside from the role while an independent probe was carried out into his conduct.
The latest allegations, which are separate and unrelated to the earlier claims regarding Danker, include reports from more than a dozen women who say they were victims of sexual harassment at the CBI. According to the Guardian, one woman said she was raped at a summer staff party aboard a boat on the Thames in 2019. Another said she was sexually assaulted at the same event.
The CBI represents many of Britain’s biggest businesses and campaigns on behalf of its 190,000 members.
Danker, who took over as director general of the CBI in 2020, apologized when the allegations of misconduct against him were reported in March, and said on Twitter that it was “mortifying to hear that I have caused offense or anxiety to any colleague.”
A spokesperson for the CBI said Monday that it “has treated and continues to treat all matters of workplace conduct with the utmost seriousness, which is why last month, we commissioned a thorough investigation by an independent law firm into all recent allegations that have been put to us.”
They added that while it would harm the process to comment on allegations now, the organization “will not hesitate to take any necessary action when the investigation concludes.”
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
