By Farzana Baduel, CEO Curzon PR & Resident PR Expert at Oxford Foundry, University of Oxford
The latest Tory psychodramas have dominated the headlines over the past week, providing further proof, if further proof is indeed needed, of the British establishment’s schizophrenic attitude towards transparency.
Throughout the pandemic, Boris Johnson commendably kept us up to speed on infection rates and morbidity, and even the muddled u-turns on travel restrictions were played out quite publicly. Yet the recent ‘Dyson texts’, ‘Greensill lobbying’, ‘lockdown leak’ and ‘Downing St refurbishment’ affairs underline the political class’s acutely inconsistent stance on openness.
We see the same pattern across other sections of the British elite, from the Royal Family to the Church of England, at a time when honesty and plain-speaking, however uncomfortable, have never been in greater demand. Witness, for instance, our love of confessional TV, willingness to share all on social media and Gen Z’s quest for truth.
Establishment institutions have long understood that their lack of transparency is one of the main reasons why public trust in them has plunged over recent decades, undermining their authority and relevance in today’s irreverent, individualistic society.
Just a few decades ago, in the last throes of deferential Britain, political leaders, royals and the rest could pretty much conduct themselves as they wished since a largely subservient media was happy, for the most part, to remain schtum. No more. Our representatives are under so much scrutiny that almost any infraction has the potential to blow up in their face.
Britain’s elite have all invested heavily in communications and PR to help them at least appear more accountable, trustworthy and responsible, yet rarely a month passes without some new unappealing revelation about this or that threatening their reputation and standing.
What is going on? Are the comms advisers just not up to the job, perhaps overwhelmed by it? Or is it the case that their advice is simply not being taken on board? More worryingly still, are those they work for so out of sync with modern Britain that they are incapable of treating the public like adults?
Who knows - I suspect it’s a combination of all the above. How else can one account for the schizophrenic attitude to transparency and communications in general? Buckingham Palace’s graceful handling of fall-outs with Megan and Prince Harry contrast sharply with Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview over the Epstein scandal. The BBC is applauded for publishing the salaries of its most highly paid staff, but has not been very upfront about allegations of pay discrimination against female staff – an Equality and Human Rights Commission probe last year urging “improvements to increase transparency and rebuild trust with women at the organisation”. And so on, and so on.
It’s deeply ironic that the one British institution that is seemingly embracing openness is the country’s most secretive. While it’s not about to give away any secrets, MI5 under its relatively new boss Ken McCallum is apparently keen to change public perceptions of the organisation, last month joining Instagram as part of efforts to banish “martini-drinking” stereotypes.
McCallum clearly understands that to make MI5 relevant to ordinary people he must demystify what it does and how it works, up to a point, of course. Still, he gets it. While another institution that really should be setting an example for all the others, the Church of England, was alleged in the same week to be doing nothing of the kind. A Panorama investigation claimed that it was using non-disclosure agreements to silence staff complaining of racism.
It’s debatable how much attention people pay to the seemingly endemic dissembling and covering up of our institutions. We are so inured to it that when they do conduct themselves properly we almost suspect that there must be some kind of catch, or that whatever is being disclosed is only partial. Whether this perception has any foundation or not, the roots of it must be urgently addressed otherwise the British establishment risks fading into irrelevance at a time when it needs to demonstrate its strengths.
In the post-Brexit era, Britain is attempting to embrace international opportunities. We need to be making friends and influencing people. Our institutions are admired the world over and we need to keep it that way. If they continue to fall short of expectations, Global Britain’s brand will inevitably be harmed.
Farzana Baduel is the founder and CEO of Curzon PR , a London-based PR firm working with clients globally.
Farzana is also a resident public relations expert at Oxford University’s entrepreneurship centre Oxford Foundry and a former Vice-Chair of Business Relations for the Conservative Party. Her views and comments have featured in The Guardian, Forbes, the Financial Times and PR Week. She has also appeared on BBC Newsnight and Al Jazeera.