If there is one thing political parties crave, it is to be seen as a safe pair of hands with the economy and to have the trust of both big and small businesses.

They also need to be seen as having the right set of policies to drive investment and boost regeneration.

For Labour under its new leader Jeremy Corbyn, there is – putting it mildly – a long way to go before it can lay claim to that.

Soon after he was elected leader, he turned down an invitation to address the CBI annual conference, inevitably seen as a snub, and the few business policies the party has outlined have not gone down well with bosses.

His declaration that he wanted to bar companies from distributing dividends unless they paid the living wage was given a guarded response, as was the idea of salary curbs to stop bosses being paid many times more than workers.

The prospect of a New Labour-style re-run of a prawn cocktail offensive on the City seems highly unlikely.

On a recent visit to Thanet, on a trip organised by the left-wing campaign group Momentum, shadow chancellor John McDonnell joked of his difficulties in abiding by his leader’s wish for politicians to be nicer to one another.

However, he insists that Labour is developing the right policy framework for investment and jobs and says that money must be found to create the necessary infrastructure for Kent.

As to claims that cheap migrant labour is undercutting jobs, he says the solution lies in tackling exploitative employers.

“What we have to do is ensure people are not using immigration as an exploitative mechanism as well,” said Mr McDonnell.

“We are trying to make sure people’s jobs are protected – we are trying to make sure living standards are protected so migrants are not being used by exploitative employers to undercut wages.

“That protects the workforce whether they are migrants or whether they are living permanently in this country.”

On immigration, he strikes an uncompromising tone – underlining that it is a two-way phenomenon.

“People from this country travel all over the world and people come here as well. Migrants coming into this country provide us with a workforce that provides the staff for our hospitals and our infrastructure. That is the modern world and that will always be the case.”

“One of the key issues that came out of the election was economic confidence and what we are going to try and do is develop the policies that are needed for areas like Thanet that will get people back to work.." - John McDonnell

It was “perfectly feasible” for Labour to recover the ground the party had lost in Kent after the last two elections, he said.

“One of the key issues that came out of the election was economic confidence and what we are going to try and do is develop the policies that are needed for areas like Thanet that will get people back to work, give them skills that they need and [allow us] to invest in the infrastructure so we can develop the local economy.

“That way, I think we can demonstrate that we can develop a prosperous local economy in Kent.”

The shadow Chancellor’s rhetoric about wanting to even out economic inequalities will be popular in some quarters, as will Labour’s push for big international corporate organisations to pay more tax.

But for the moment, the business community is keeping its powder dry over a politician who has spoken in his Who’s Who entry of “generally fermenting the overthrow of capitalism”.