Thread by @steveparks

For those who followed my thread on the IOD spinning survey results about Brexit to support May’s deal... it turns out they sent that press release out TWO WEEKS before the survey had even finished!! It closes Nov 30th!!

https://twitter.com/the_iod/status/1066996747002671104

...sure enough, I dig back into my emails to find the survey invitation I was sent, and it confirms the closing date is 30th Nov...

… here is the thread where I wrote about the slant in the structure of the survey, and the communication of its ‘results'…

https://twitter.com/steveparks/status/1064798878925492224

…given the survey runs until 30th Nov, it’s interesting that the IoD chose to use ‘results' from the survey to claim that directors backed May's deal on the _20th_ Nov (so press release & copy went out 19th)! The DG wrote in the Telegraph...

… and they had their Head of EU and Trade Policy touting the ‘results’ on the Today programme, claiming clear business support of May’s deal...

…and there was plenty of other coverage too, driven by the official IoD press release (dated 10 days before survey due to close), and available at this link…
iod.com/news-campaigns…

… and would you believe it, the ‘results' of the survey completely backed up what the Director General had already announced was the policy, 5 days before the survey started. Lucky, huh?...

…these ‘results’ are particularly interesting if you look at an IoD survey from just before the referendum…
iod.com/news-campaigns…

…this survey (of a larger number of members - perhaps they even waited for the survey to finish?) shows IoD members as strongly against Brexit, and becoming more so...

…in particular the members surveyed stressed the importance of membership of the single market...

… so this raises the question - what has changed between that survey and the new ’survey’?
Have IoD members seen the way that Brexit is turning out in reality and suddenly decided “You know what, this is looking brilliant, I’ve changed my mind - go for it Theresa!”
?...

…or, rather than members’ views changing, has the IoD changed the way it informs members, consults them and communicates the ‘results’?

Well, let's look at some potential IoD changes...

1. It appointed a new Director General who the Daily Mail was very pleased with...

2. Both the FT and the new DG himself were surprised that he was headhunted for this role as he’d had no experience leading such an organisation.
Why was someone who strongly opposed members views on the biggest biz issue of our age, appointed from out of nowhere?

3. IoD already had a Head of Europe and Trade Policy in place with a background working with Matthew Elliot (went on to run Vote Leave), and Mark Reckless (Tory>UKIP>Tory) MP.
Her speaker bio is available on site of Romanian Chamber of Commerce: ccir.ro/wp-content/upl…

4. After the referendum, with the new DG in place, both went on aPR campaign to members and the public - that was, well, a little spun...
director.co.uk/category/opini…
director.co.uk/meet-stephen-m…

(e.g. Boss of the IOD tells UK businesses to give up trading with Europe (26 miles away) and make the time and effort to go thousands of miles to Africa instead, ignoring the geo-political issues…)

… and gosh, that seems to be a line right out of the shady group of campaign groups masquerading as ‘think tanks’ that were recently investigated by @carolecadwalla . Here’s a Centre For Policy Studies article on Africa after Brexit: cps.org.uk/blog/q/date/20…

@carolecadwalla … and yes, you guessed it, the name Matthew Elliott pops up again at the centre of these campaign groups. For more info, read @carolecadwalla’s article here: theguardian.com/politics/2018/…

@carolecadwalla … so to summarise:
IoD membership was strongly Remain. IoD management is now strongly Leave/anti-EU. IoD now holds surveys with skewed questions, publishing ‘results’ long before survey closes. This is using IoD membership for astro-turfing: appearing to be rep’ing grassroots...

@carolecadwalla … I call on the IoD to apologise for this survey… to withdraw press releases and comment published on the basis of the ‘results’… and to engage an independent reputable external polling company to poll all members on all options in a transparent way...

@carolecadwalla …and finally, as a member, I ask the new Chair of the IOD, @GGGltd, to review the activity around this survey I’ve highlighted, and the organisation's analysis and communications on Brexit in general, for whether it truly represents members, and the facts.