Anything you can do, I can do better

It must be something in the water, but Britain’s political elite are falling over themselves to publicly commit to corporate social responsibility and an integrated vision of business in society. Speaking last week, Gordon Brown, current Chancellor of the Exchequer and still favorite to take over from Tony Blair as Prime Minister next year, called on the country to:

"champion social enterprise, to champion corporate social responsibility and to champion community and environmental action …”

It is hard not to see this as a response to David Cameron, new leader of the Conservative Party who has repeatedly outlined his commitment to CSR and a more cuddly conservatism. The party even has a new green logo to go with its environmentalist makeover (see Richard’s recent post). Strange to see such strong rhetoric in support of CSR, when there has been a shift away from mandating social and environmental responsibilities within the EU of late.