Labour hits back with its own letter from businesspeople and zero-hours workers

The battle of the pens heats up

The Telegraph has oft been the king of the killer front page, and yesterday’s was no exception.

It featured a list of more than 100 business leaders and a letter they’d jointly signed saying “the Conservative-led government has been good for business and has pursued policies which have supported investment and job creation”.

Their letter warned that “a change in course [of economic policy] will threaten jobs and deter investment”.

Today, Labour has hastily hit back with its own open letter of support in The Mirror, signed by its own century-strong smorgasbord of signatories spanning zero-hours contract workers, business leaders, celebrities and key workers such as nurses and fire-fighters.

The business names on the list include Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, advertising legend Trevor Beattie, former BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons and fashion designer Wayne Hemingway.

The letter describes the signatories as “working people.. from all walks of life”. It asks if the country works “only for those at the very top” or “for working people – those trying to make ends meet, working in British businesses across the country to create wealth and support their families”.

It adds: “A symbol of the failure of this Government’s economic plan is the proliferation of zero-hours contracts which has helped fuel the low wage, low skill economy that is letting down working people and letting down Britain.”

Yesterday, Ed Miliband pledged to ban zero-hours contracts if he came to power.

The letter concludes: “We need a better plan for prosperity. We need a better plan and a better future. We need a Labour Government to put working people first.”