Business and Politics in Britain

Abstract

Britain has been labelled a capitalist, socialist and corporatist political system. These contradictory labels used by different writers sometimes reveal more about the attitudes of the writers than they do about Britain. However, the fact that Britain can be described in such varying ways does highlight an important fact about the country. Different tendencies do exist in Britain which can, for example, tilt policy-making in a more or less corporatist direction as governments consult more or less closely with economic groups. A temporary strengthening of a trend can lead, perhaps too easily, to articles in the press proclaiming that Britain is now, for example, a corporatist country. However, one of the features of the business—government relationship in Britain is, indeed, its flexibility. As we shall see, the degree to which government consults with the organisations representing business or labour in general varies considerably, as does the extent to which governments attempt to plan the economy.