Keeping all the parties heading in the same direction is quite a task

“Keeping all the parties heading in the same direction is quite a task.” The MoD is of two minds, he says. “It sees the potential advantages – there is quite a lot of cost that could be taken out through the merger – but obviously it would lose competition. Industry wants to go down this route on the basis that we can establish long-term stability. But we have all got to make sure our own interests are sorted. We are not going to sign up to it unless there is a plus side and we can make more money out of it.”The main sticking point is expected to be the companies’ stakes in the enlarged entity, dubbed ShipCo, in which the MoD wants no firm to own more than 49 per cent. Lester says: “It is not as easy as that because a lot of the support services work we do is to look after the ships we are building.”Instead, he is pinning his hopes on proposals to merge VT’s shipbuilding interests with those of BAE Systems and Babcock International to create a single company – with the backing of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).”A very elegant solution” is how Lester describes the potential deal but talks are still at an early stage. The only thing we can guarantee is it will go down again.”Some in the City would like VT to get out of shipbuilding and focus on government services.

In the past this would have been pretty strong Jarvis territory. So its relative demise leaves a pretty good opportunity for a number of companies, including us.”Lester says that VT plans to bid for around 10 schools projects, each worth between £100m and £300m, over the next 10 years.Perversely, VT is gearing up its support services side as Britain is going through one of its biggest shipbuilding booms for years “It is a cyclical business,” Lester explains. “If we get it right, there is a good 10-year-plus future for the business. “Businessmen have a greater experience of getting things done Politicians don’t. They might have better ideas about what should be done, but the businessman works out what makes politics effective.”Sir Digby Jones, his counterpart at the CBI, is a fan of the US system, where business and politics are closely linked, and says he wants “10 times more” businessmen to go into politics “The country needs experts in the executive.

That isn’t to say there aren’t businessmen who don’t have these skills, but there are many who don’t.”One of the few exceptions is Michael (now Lord) Heseltine, who boasted just such oratory skills beside business acumen as a publisher Both he and Mr Norman were elected. The more controversial switch is when government appoints a businessman.Lord Sainsbury was criticised for his stance on genetically modified food amid claims that, as a grocer, he had a vested interest. Mr Robinson’s home loan to Peter Mandelson prompted the then trade secretary’s resignation. And there were mutterings about whether Lord Simon’s BP shares posed a conflict of interest (he eventually sold).But perhaps the biggest accepted failure was Mr Davies, the Shell man summoned by the Tories. “Here was somebody brought in from the highest level to the top of government,” says Mr Travers.

We need to get as wide a representation of society in the House of Commons as possible.”But this is no natural career path – business and politics are very different. Archie Norman, the former Asda chairman and Conservative MP, tells a story about one of his first House of Commons speeches. “He told me how he had crafted his speech, stood up and after two minutes they were shouting at him,” says a friend. “After five minutes he was shouting back.” Here was a man used to people listening when he spoke and acting on what he said – not shouting back.Tony Travers, a political analyst at the London School of Economics, says that unlike in other countries, such as France and Germany, which have a history of people crossing the divide, British businessmen do not make natural politicians. “The way the apparatus of British government has evolved – with its oratory traditions and the enormous stress it puts on public performances – has made it more difficult for certain individuals to be as successful as others.

“The more businessmen who go into politics the better,” argues Miles Templeman, the director general of the Institute of Directors. He had sparked controversy in 2002 when Powderject was awarded a £32m contract shortly after he gave £50,000 to Labour, so any criticism now may be water off a duck’s back.He’s not the only businessman to have been lured into Labour’s ranks; it’s a well-trodden path. Sceptics might call it proof that money can buy you anything, or maybe just plain old cronyism. Yet Lord Drayson appeared immune to such sniping last week when he answered Tony Blair’s call and swapped business for power. With economic conditions tightening, very few will have good things to say. The market will be bracing itself for gloomy news this week as tech companies and retailers update investors. Although the smallest of the three, much attention will be on the struggling Marconi, led by Mike Parton.