The timing could have been better. Just two days before Philip Hammond was due to explain in his autumn statement how Brexit was going to blow a £100bn hole in the country’s finances, Theresa May found herself at the Grosvenor House hotel in central London to sweet-talk business leaders at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference. A very lavish affair it was too, with plenty of breaks for refreshments and networking opportunities and not a “just about managing” person in sight. Apart from the waiting staff.

“Business needs to do more to help the left behind,” the prime minister said, as a just about managing moth repeatedly dive-bombed her head – a drone on drone attack. But not that much more help. In fact far less than they had imagined as May went on say that they needn’t worry about putting workers’ representatives on their boards after all. The European head honchos of Facebook and Google, who were lined up to speak after Theresa, were less impressed when she told them she was also planning on lowering corporation tax further. After all, they already paid next to nothing. Corporation tax was for wimps.

But the business leaders were worried about Brexit, and the CBI’s president, Paul Drechsler, had begged Theresa to give them a sign – any sign – in his opening address that she wasn’t about to march the country off the side of a cliff. At the mention of the word Brexit, Theresa turns into the Maybot, a dead-eyed automaton unable to do more than fill space with uncertain words. “When I am able to be clear about Brexit I will be clear,” she said. “Though I can be clear that I will not be marching the country off the side of a cliff.” The more hopeful took this as a sign that the Maybot was more relaxed about negotiating transitional arrangements, but the more realistic were open to the idea she was merely hedging her bets about going over the cliff at a canter.

When the Maybot went on to repackage every other Brexit speech she has given in the last few months, the only flicker of interest from the audience was over whether the just about managing moth would be able to land a direct hit. It didn’t, but the smattering of applause that greeted the prime minister’s exit was primarily for the moth. Business leaders aren’t that keen on hearing how only 35% of the country trust them from someone even fewer people trust to have a convincing plan. A further piece of unfortunate timing was that Deloitte were sponsoring the conference and Theresa had to make her speech with their logo on the screen behind her. It was a Deloittte memo that last week branded the government’s Brexit planning as a complete shambles.

The hall was rather more thinly populated for Jeremy Corbyn’s graveyard slot late in the afternoon. The Labour leader and the CBI haven’t always been the most natural of bedfellows in the past, and it’s hard to know who is the more surprised to discover they are now on the same side of the Brexit argument. The CBI will forgive a lot for his enthusiasm for the single market and Corbyn was received politely. For his part, Corbyn tried to return the favour by racing through his speech as quickly as possible to allow the stragglers to get home. Both Corbyn and the CBI knew there was little at stake as it will be the Tories calling the shots in the coming years, and both sides were keen to make the experience as painless as possible. The half hour of verbal wallpaper passed with all the edge of some late night radio smooth classics.

In an earlier session, Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook’s vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, had somehow managed to deliver a presentation on the importance of disruption in modern business while appearing to be absolutely terrified by it. She held on to her phone throughout, desperately hoping someone would “like” what she said as she followed the instructions on its screen. Walk three paces to the right. Stop. Walk five paces forward. Stop. Still no likes. Much as the CBI might say it likes change, what it wants most of all is for things to stay the same. With them at the top. And nothing they had heard had given them cause for alarm. If Brexit goes tits up, it won’t be the CEOs who are out of a job. Business as usual. For all the talk of disruption, the only disruptor on view was a moth.