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Labour offers counterpunch to Daily Telegraph business letter Labour offers counterpunch to Daily Telegraph business letter
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Labour has countered a call from leading businessmen not to abandon Conservative economic policy by producing an alternative letter from what the party described as a true cross section of British society. Labour tried to counter a potentially damaging letter from 103 senior business executives calling on voters to embrace Tory economic policy by producing a counter message from what it described as a true cross section of British society.
The letter, signed by a mixed group of actors, businessmen, writers, nurses and a host of low paid workers, was designed as a grassroots response to the array of leading UK businessmen, many of them Conservative donors, who signed a pro-Tory letter that first appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday. The Labour letter was signed by a mixed group of actors, businessmen, writers, nurses and a host of low-paid workers in response to an array of leading UK businessmen, many of them Conservative donors, who had signed the pro-Tory letter that first appeared in the Daily Telegraph.
The group hastily assembled by Labour declared: “We come from all walks of life, this is what Britain looks like.” As many as 50 of the signatories worked on zero-hours contracts. The 100 signatories, who declared “We come from all walks of life, this is what Britain looks like,” included as many as 50 people working on zero-hours contracts.
The businessmen and other high profile figures who signed the Labour letter included Trevor Beattie, the advertising guru, Susie Orbach the feminist writer and fashion designer Wayne Hemingway. Dale Vince, who founded Ecotricity, Philip Hedley director of the Theatre Royal South East, and Peter Duncan, the actor, were also among the signatories, who included shelf stackers, farm hands and firefighters. The Labour supporters argued the fundamental choice at the election is whether the country works only for those at the top or for all working people – including those trying to make ends meet working in British businesses across the country to create wealth and support their families.
Labour, clearly unable to gather such a prestigious group of businessmen as the 100 signatories to the Tory letter, made a virtue of producing a grassroots counterblast from a cross section of society. The group of businessmen and other high-profile figures who signed Labour’s letter included advertising guru Trevor Beattie, feminist writer Susie Orbach and fashion designer Wayne Hemingway. They also included Dale Vince, who founded Ecotricity, Philip Hedley, director emeritus of the Theatre Royal Stratford East, and Peter Duncan, the actor. It also includes shelf stackers, farm hands and firemen.
Focusing on the issue of zero-hours employment, the letter said that the proliferation of such contracts has become a symbol of the failure of the government’s economic plan “which has helped fuel the low-wage, low-skill economy that is letting down working people and letting down Britain”. Focusing on the issue of zero-hours employment, the letter said that proliferation of such contracts have become a symbol of the failure of the government’s economic plan “which has helped fuel the low wage, low skill economy that is letting down working people and letting down Britain”.
Labour dismissed the earlier Telegraph letter as a Tory stunt, adding that business needed to be careful it was not seen to be in a cosy alliance with the Conservative party. Labour sources also claimed 22 of the letter signatories were Tory donors who’d given up to £7.5m to the party. Although the letter risks underlining Labour’s lack of high level business support, the organisers insist it was not designed to match the Conservative letter, but instead to make the point that everyone, not just business, has a stake in the coming election.
But with three days of the campaign concluded, the Conservatives have managed to dominate the debate with a series of warnings about the fragile relations between UK business and Labour. Polls shows the Tories have managed to make the economy the number one issue again, something that will please Tory high command. Labour also dismissed the business letter as a Tory stunt, adding that business needed to be careful that it was not seen to be in a cosy alliance with the Conservative party.
Ed Miliband will need a strong showing in Thursday’s seven leader TV debate to put his campaign back on the front foot. It will be the only debate in which he faces David Cameron directly. Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna added that Labour would maintain a competitive tax regime while prioritising support for small firms by cutting business rates on 1.5 million small business premises. “This was a letter organised by the Conservative party in a Conservative-supporting newspaper,” he told the Guardian. “We’ve got almost five million businesses in our country. At best you could say the people who signed this represent 0.002% of them.”
Labour sources also said 22 of the letter signatories were Tory donors who had given up to £7.5m to the party.
However Labour will be watching nervously to see if the letter has a political impact, and will be hoping, after years of corporate scandals and excessive pay rises, the support of business leaders no longer has the traction with the British public it once had.
But the Conservatives continued to drip feed out senior businessmen who were supporting the party, such as Yo! Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe who said it would be madness to change economic direction with the job half done. Woodroffe had previously appeared in a 2004 Labour broadcast but on Wednesday he said: “They are halfway through a job and I know what it is like in business, when you’re halfway through the job you do not necessarily look the rosiest. To change now, halfway through a recovery from the worst recession we have had in my lifetime, seems to be madness.”
Labour will be aware that in first three days of the short campaign, the Conservatives have managed to fill the airwaves with a series of warnings about the fragile relations between UK business and Labour. Polls show the Tories have managed to make the economy the number one issue again, something that will please Tory high command since they regard it as their strongest suit.
Miliband will need a strong showing in Thursday evening’s seven-way leader TV debate on ITV to put his campaign back on the front foot. It will be the only debate in which he faces David Cameron directly.
The Labour leader had deliberately sharpened the dividing line on the economy with a call in the morning to end the use of zero-hours contracts, saying he had decided to reduce the proposed length of time someone can be on such a contract before an employer is required to provide a permanent one.
Miliband had originally proposed a one year qualification period, but said he would reduce this to three months, a move that was not welcomed by employers organisations. The change would cover 90% of zero-hours contracts.
Meanwhile, Osborne said the letter sent to the Daily Telegraph showed British business had spoken and had revealed how it believed Labour could not be trusted to run the economy.
He said: “We have just 36 days left to save Britain’s economic recovery. A British general election has never seen a business letter like this – 103 business leaders employing over half a million people. The chairmen and chief executives of businesses that represent a roll call of British economic success, innovation and job creation. We have the leaders of some of our biggest companies like BP, Dixons-Carphone, and the Prudential.”
Osborne also argued Labour may be planning to raise taxes for hundreds of thousands of middle-class professionals after the next election by lowering the £41,865 threshold for the 40p rate. But while on a visit to a Britvic factory in Leeds, Osborne conceded it “would be very difficult” for him to live on a zero-hours contract, before adding: “There are some zero-hour contracts that people want.”
The shadow chancellor Ed Balls repeatedly refused to rule out changing the point at which the higher rate of tax kicks in, saying he had to be “honest” with the public that there was still a £90bn deficit to pay off.