How do you talk about faith in public life?

The majority of people in the UK said they were religious on the most recent Census (although the number reporting as non-religious is increasing). Christians make up 46% of the UK’s population. Being a leader - whether in politics or business - who has faith isn’t unusual.

Yet this week, Kate Forbes’ bid to become leader of the SNP is imploding because she talked about her beliefs. Forbes’ views are at the more traditional end of the spectrum - she opposes gay marriage, having children outside marriage and is pro-life - but these are views that are mainstream in the global Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. She’s also not the first political leader to fall foul of criticism for the way she talked about her belief.

There are particular issues that made it so bad for Forbes. She is trying to lead a party that positions itself as socially liberal. She also committed what for many is the cardinal sin - saying how she’d vote about settled matters (i.e. gay marriage).

But you can walk a tightrope here. Look at the beliefs of UK Prime Minister’s in the last thirty years and you’ll notice that they are all religious. Well, not quite. The exception is Liz Truss who said she shared the values of the Christian faith but wasn’t a regular churchgoer (which is the definition of a politically workshopped line on this issue). It’s not just Prime Ministers who are religious either. Sadiq Khan has won consecutive elections - even though he faced direct and oblique criticism as a result of his Islamic faith.

These leaders didn’t keep their faith a secret. Alastair Cambell infamously said “We don’t do God” when Tony Blair wanted to talk about his faith. But Blair did. And plenty of other leaders - in politics and business - do too. So how can you do it well?

First, you’ve got to understand your audience. The majority of the population in the UK may be religious but is your audience? Even if they are, there’s a big difference in religious literacy between someone who ticks a box on a census and someone who attends church every week.

This is all the more complicated if you’re a leader working across different countries. In the US or plenty of Eastern European countries, putting your faith front and centre can be a boon for your leadership. If you’re an aspiring US leader, you can’t get much better messaging advice than: repeat ad nauseam “God bless America”.

Second, you’ve got to make sure you’re using language that believers and non-believers understand. Too many leaders fall into the trap of using religious language which means the opposite of what they intend. Words like “sin” and “wrong” are often used by the religious about actions ranging from jealousy to murder equally without applying the hierarchy of wickedness which societies judge the acts on. Similarly, the concept of prayer is alien to many non-believers (even if the non-believers may practice mindfulness, deep breathing, or meditation every day).

Third, you’ve got to think about how whatever you say about religion is going to be delivered. If you’ve got control of the method - through a speech or social channels - this is easier. If it’s in the media, you’re at their mercy. A Cambridge University report in 2019 found “There was a perceived lack of religion and belief literacy among media professionals.” Last year, a poll found that 57 per cent of those in the UK thought that the media perpetuated faith-based stereotypes and in 2019, a Muslim Council of Britain study found that the majority of coverage of muslims in Britain was negative. All this is to say - you’re not going to get an easy ride.

Fourth, what are you going to say? You could lie. But better to keep your comments short and measured. You need to communicate a couple of things. First, you respect the values of the country / constituency / company you are leading. Second, that you aren’t going to change the law / rules / company policy based on your faith. You can accept that faith is one factor that influences your decisions. But make it clear that it is only one factor. And whatever you do, in the UK don’t push your faith down people’s throats.

It’s time for a tougher windfall tax

Energy companies are making obscene profits. On Friday, EDF announced it made £1.12 billion in profits in its annual results, the latest in a slew of monster returns for major oil, gas, and electricity companies. Two weeks ago BP announced its profits more than doubled to £23 billion, and earlier this month Shell raked in a whopping £32.2 billion, the most in its 115-year history. Meanwhile, Centrica (the owner of British gas) took in £3.3 billion whilst simultaneously using agents to force prepayment metres on vulnerable customers struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis.

One would think that the windfall tax introduced by Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn Budget would prevent oil companies from profiting from the war in Ukraine. Hunt’s measures increased the windfall to 35%, up from 25%, and extended it to potentially as far as April 2028. Despite this, Shell only paid a measly £112 million to the UK government under the windfall tax introduced last year and despite making a record £26 billion in the first 9 months it did not pay a penny in windfall tax until October. In a similar measure, BP only paid £583m.

This begs the question, why have oil and gas companies been able to pay so little in tax, when millions are struggling?

There is an investment loophole in the current legislation which means oil and gas firms are able to claw back more than 91% of their capital investment in tax relief by investing in the North Sea. This means that oil and gas firms are getting a significant tax break to invest in non-renewable energy. BP has already cut its emissions pledge and plans greater oil and gas production over the next seven years compared with previous targets.

The Government should face the reality that in the face of these astronomically large profits, leaving this loophole open is an insult to the millions of households expecting a £500 hit to their monthly energy bills come April. Worse still, the Conservatives are leaving an estimated £22 billion on the table, which would be enough to pay for emergency insulation measures for 3.31 million households according to the NEF. The cost of expanding the scheme is not likely to have a significant impact on investment in the UK, following last year’s introduction of the windfall. BP’s chief executive, Bernard Looney admitted the levy would not prevent it from making any planned investments until at least after 2025.

Windfall taxes are popular, 68% of Brits backed the idea of a windfall tax in September 2022 and with a further 8.4 million people facing fuel poverty by April, the Government stepping up and strengthening the windfall tax could offer a win/win, raising money for our beleaguered public services, and generating some positive polling at a time when the Conservative Party could use it most.

Is 2023 the year that business steps in for childcare?

With Sunak’s alleged abandonment of Truss’ childcare agenda, is it time the business community finally steps into the breach? Our childcare in the UK is the third most expensive in the OECD and parents are feeling the squeeze. The average cost of full-time childcare is now a crippling £11,700 per annum. Those able to absorb the eye-watering costs of childcare also find themselves with little choice. The UK is experiencing a chronic shortage of childcare capacity, there were 100,000 fewer spaces in even before the pandemic than in 2015. This is a particularly bleak picture when compared with the situation in other countries. Take Sweden, where families spend on average 15% percent of their household income on childcare compared to a whopping 34% in the UK.

The economic and social implications are serious. A staggering 43% of women in the UK have considered leaving their job due to the cost of childcare, whilst 40% have already reduced their hours to cut costs. PwC estimates enabling increased participation of women in the workforce could see the UK gain up to £48 billion per year.

Given the high stakes, change is both necessary and urgent. The issue of childcare has been a consistent bugbear of successive governments in the UK. Reforms mooted by the short-lived Truss administration to extend the amount of free childcare hours available and cut red-tape around staff-child ratio to increase places have been shelved, with the coveted silver bullet nowhere in sight. Truss’ successor Rishi Sunak has shelved plans to raise free childcare to 50 hours, and to increase the toddler to carer ratio in nurseries and day care centres.

Given the obvious economic, social and political upsides, we can expect to see this issue receive more attention as we gear up for the forthcoming General Election. Championing childcare promises to mobilise a small army of followers as the UK grapples with a sustained cost of living crisis, stubbornly high inflation, and looming recession. And that’s before we consider the three quarters of women of working age who are also parents.

This presents a real obligation and opportunity for employers. Businesses have not traditionally been seen as primary providers of childcare. By integrating childcare benefits such as subsidised prices or on-site care into employment packages, employers would be going some way to alleviating the burden of childcare. Whatsmore, incorporating such measures will contribute to tackling existing barriers to employment - especially for women.

Many employers have long provided staff with a range of additional benefits covering everything from private medical cover to gym memberships. With intense competition amongst businesses to attract and retain the best talent, we can expect to see employers embracing a more progressive approach to childcare in future.

Companies that do so will reap the rewards. Alongside the talent dividend, their improved ESG profile will make them more likely to attract new investment and consumers. 86% of people ranked companies’ commitments to solving societal issues as amongst their top priorities when searching for jobs. Furthermore 76% of investors are willing to pay a slight premium for funds consisting of ESG rated firms. Taken together, these two statistics should cause business leaders to stop before dismissing childcare provisions. In a world with renewed competition for capital and workers, rewards are ripe for the taking!