ANKARA
Over 100 U.K. business leaders backed the Conservative-led government’s economic policies in an open letter published in the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
The U.K. general election campaign, which officially kicked off two days ago, has heated up – with the economy already dominating the debate between the center-right Conservative Party, the senior party in the country's coalition government, and the opposition center-left Labour Party.
“We believe this Conservative-led Government has been good for business and has pursued policies which have supported investment and job creation,” the letter said.
It was signed in a personal capacity by over 100 senior executives, who, between them, employ over half a million people.
It singled out for particular praise, “David Cameron and George Osborne’s flagship policy of progressively lowering Corporation Tax to 20%."
Corporation tax was 28 percent when the Conservative-led coalition government came into office in 2010.
In a not-so-discrete dig at the Labour Party, the business leaders added, “We believe a change in course will threaten jobs and deter investment. This would send a negative message about Britain and put the recovery at risk.”
Labour have pledged to increase corporation tax to 21 percent.
The letter includes the names of figures in the business community who had supported Labour in previous elections, such as entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den celebrity Duncan Bannatyne, as well as supporters of the Conservatives such as Karen Brady, the current vice-chairman of West Ham United FC.
"No one will be surprised that some business people are calling for low taxes for big businesses," Labour’s Chuka Umunna said, according to Labour Press.
The shadow business secretary added that the economic recovery in Britain has reached only a few firms and that Labour "will prioritise tax cuts for the smallest firms with an immediate cut in business rates for 1.5 million small business premises."
British Chancellor and Conservative MP George Osbourne was keen to play up the importance of the letter.
"An intervention on this scale and with this clarity from Britain's business leaders is unprecedented in any recent general election," he said in an interview with the BBC.
The U.K. general election will take place on May 7, 2015.
