BUSINESS AND POLITICS

One of the illusions that most reformist political parties are keen to foster is that they stand for "the national Interests", "the British way of life" or some such nonsense. They pretend that they represent the interests of the refuse collectors and the shop assistants just as much as the rich business man. This recent piece of legislation gives the lie to that notion. "Britain's top 50 companies are to be given unprecedented access to government ministers in an attempt to spark life into the economy. Bosses of companies including BP GlaxoSmithKline will be able to telephone directly to the top of Whitehall departments in new individually tailored relationships with senior ministers who will act as "buddies"." (Times, 23 September) RD