Business leaders can be naive when it comes to(当涉及……时) politics. It was a mistake for them to cheerlead(为……加油；支持) for Labour before the most recent general election without thinking through the impact of the party’s policies. For example, they seemed to assume that the Employment Rights Act, which gives workers much more protection against their bosses, would be heavily watered down despite its importance to Labour MPs and the trade unions.(例如，他们似乎以为《就业权利法案》会被大幅削弱，尽管它对工党议员和工会很重要。) In talks on the details of the new law, representatives of the government and unions were shocked at business groups’ poor negotiating skill(谈判技巧).
商界领袖在政治问题上可能很天真。在上次大选前，他们为工党摇旗呐喊，却没有深思该党政策的影响，这是一个错误。例如，他们似乎以为《就业权利法案》——该法案赋予工人更多保护以对抗老板——尽管对工党议员和工会至关重要，也会被大幅削弱。在就新法细节进行的谈判中，政府和工会代表对商业团体糟糕的谈判技巧感到震惊。
Bosses are often afraid to engage in(参与；从事) politics, beyond contributing bland(平淡的；乏味的) quotes to government press releases. Public-affairs experts speak with frustration about how hard it is to persuade high-profile leaders to talk about policies that would help their firms, for fear of looking silly if they do not get what they want.(公共事务专家沮丧地表示，很难说服知名领袖谈论对其公司有利的政策，因为他们担心如果得不到想要的东西会显得愚蠢。) The few who do speak out—such as Greg Jackson, the founder of Octopus Energy, or Tim Martin of J D Wetherspoon, a chain of pubs—can be resented(被怨恨；被憎恶) by their peers.
老板们常常害怕参与政治，除了向政府新闻稿提供平淡无奇的引语外，不愿多言。公共事务专家沮丧地表示，很难说服知名领袖谈论对其公司有利的政策，因为他们担心如果得不到想要的东西会显得愚蠢。少数敢于发声的人——如Octopus Energy的创始人格雷格·杰克逊，或连锁酒吧J D Wetherspoon的蒂姆·马丁——可能会遭到同行的怨恨。
Voters generally believe that if taxes do need to go up, it is fine to nobble(打击；阻挠) business (though they are even keener on(更热衷于) whacking(重击；打击) the rich). Firms have work to do to explain to politicians why that will end up(最终成为；结果) making the public poorer, by raising prices and curbing(抑制；控制) growth.
选民普遍认为，如果确实需要增税，那么打击企业是可以的（尽管他们更热衷于对富人下手）。企业需要努力向政界解释，为什么这样做最终会通过提高价格和抑制增长而使公众变得更穷。