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| Ed Balls red-faced after forgetting name of Labour business supporter | Ed Balls red-faced after forgetting name of Labour business supporter |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said "it's an age thing" after failing to remember the name of one of Labour's main business supporters. | Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said "it's an age thing" after failing to remember the name of one of Labour's main business supporters. |
| In an interview with BBC Newsnight, he described Bill Thomas - who helped draw up the party's small business policies - as simply "Bill" and when pressed could not give his surname. | In an interview with BBC Newsnight, he described Bill Thomas - who helped draw up the party's small business policies - as simply "Bill" and when pressed could not give his surname. |
| Labour sources called it "a human error" and a "perfectly human slip up". | Labour sources called it "a human error" and a "perfectly human slip up". |
| Mr Balls tweeted on Tuesday: "It's an age thing!" | Mr Balls tweeted on Tuesday: "It's an age thing!" |
| In the Newsnight interview, Mr Balls was being quizzed about whether Labour was anti-business, following criticism by Boots boss Stefano Pessina. | In the Newsnight interview, Mr Balls was being quizzed about whether Labour was anti-business, following criticism by Boots boss Stefano Pessina. |
| The shadow chancellor said he had just been at a dinner with some of Labour's business supporters including "Bill, the former chief executive of EDS, whom I was talking to just a few moments ago ... he is a big supporter of ours." | The shadow chancellor said he had just been at a dinner with some of Labour's business supporters including "Bill, the former chief executive of EDS, whom I was talking to just a few moments ago ... he is a big supporter of ours." |
| When presenter Emily Maitlis asked what Bill's surname was, he said: "It has just gone from my head, which is a bit annoying at this time of night…" | When presenter Emily Maitlis asked what Bill's surname was, he said: "It has just gone from my head, which is a bit annoying at this time of night…" |
| The Shadow Chancellor later tweeted an explanation for his memory lapse: "I know, I know. Bill Thomas, our Small Business Taskforce Chair, will never forgive me. It's an age thing!" | The Shadow Chancellor later tweeted an explanation for his memory lapse: "I know, I know. Bill Thomas, our Small Business Taskforce Chair, will never forgive me. It's an age thing!" |
| Mr Thomas, a former senior vice president of Electronic Data Systems, part of Hewlett Packard Europe, chaired a small business taskforce for Labour, as part of its policy review. | Mr Thomas, a former senior vice president of Electronic Data Systems, part of Hewlett Packard Europe, chaired a small business taskforce for Labour, as part of its policy review. |
| Labour leader Ed Miliband hailed the "enormous commitment and imagination" Mr Thomas had brought to the job when the taskforce's report was published in 2013. |