The CBI is still in crisis. Rehabilitation will be a slow process

Low turnout at confidence vote and police investigation into lobby group raise questions about its mandate

It was the Confederation of British Industry’s moment to persuade parliament that it was now time to re-engage. Interactions with ministers and civil servants have been on hold since the beginning of April, after the Guardian revealed more than a dozen women had come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape.

The setting for a rapprochement was a hearing of the business and trade select committee. These encounters can often be used as a pressure valve for public outrage, with errant company bosses hauled over the coals – the BHS boss Sir Philip Green famously told an MP to stop staring at him during a heated exchange in 2016. But Tuesday’s event was more of a polite question-and-answer session than a grilling. If not exactly warm, the welcome was at least cordial.