to think 100 business leaders have more credibility

[longfingernails]

than Ed Miliband?

Cue the usual left-wing demonisation of business, accusations of fat cattery, and the denigration of success. Labour can't escape the perception, firmly rooted in fact, that they are now an anti-business party, and therefore an anti-jobs party.

What bollocks, big business is all about exorbitant greed and the endless accumulation of wealth. Anyone that stands in the way is, by default, demonised by the media. "Jobs" often refers to low paid work with no security and few rights. That's what tories and "jobs" stand for.

I always think it's a good idea to ask, "are their interests, my interests?". And no, chances are they are not.

If you want to see what demonisation of big business and socialism does to an economy, feel free to look over the Channel.

If you want to see what rampant capitalism and the glorification of wealth does, feel free to look across the Atlantic.

The American economy certainly has problems - for example the over-unionisation of big companies like Boeing.

But overall its dynamism, the entrepreneurial flair, the spirit of self-determination is incredibly inspiring. America is a great country, but more than that, it is a great idea.

The people who will change the world are far more likely to live in America than France.

Haven't looked to see who these 100 business leaders are, but I would expect a fair sprinkling of aggressive tax avoidance, excessive board pay and use of zero-hours contracts.

Business leaders ain't what they used to be.

I wrote a long post then realised I can't be arsed. The facetious comment about Boeing makes me think you don't actually want debate, you're just lighting the touch paper.

Costa are among them and they use zero hours contracts. The very friendly staff in my local branch never know when they're working from one week to the next. Of course these folks are backing the Tories, they're sniffing a tax reduction? It's the Mrs Merton Paul Daniels moment, isn't it? Doesn't mean it's a great idea for the0majority of us who are not chief executives.

If I had a choice between France or the USA, I'd choose what's over the Channel any day. And I've lived in both countries. I could go on and on with reasons, but why bother? It's kind of stating the obvious. Suffice it to say YABVU, OP; you are utterly deluded if you think business leaders give two shits about the majority of people in this country.

Jobs = zero hours contracts

Business leaders = rich, self-interested tax avoiders

YABU

Do you think that the big business leaders in America are more likely to change the world for the better? I don't.

Would be interesting to see the business leaders on that list who offer proper contracts with the Living Wage - if it was all of them I would say they were credible but willing to bet that it will be less than a quarter

That's exactly it, Yoko. And whatever you think of Ed, I trust him far, far more than a bunch of fucking "business leaders". Expecting them to look to the well being of the country as a whole, instead of their own selfish, grasping interests, would be like trusting the wolf to guard the sheep.

It would be good to see the full list along with the companies they represent.

Without the list of businesses, it's just one set of names talking to another and excluding the person on the the Clapham omnibus.

Over to you longfingernails, since you raised this.

According to the BBC the list includes five former Labour supporters. I was rather surprised to see Cameron Mackintosh on the list - I always understood him to be a huge Labour supporter, having been one of their biggest donors in the past, although I see he is supposed to have supported the Conservatives last time out. Similarly hotelier Surinder Arora, although his support may have been more for Tony Blair than Labour in general.

yabu.

Here's what The Daily Telegraph says:

It came as Labour said that it would introduce a new law to ban zero hours contracts for staff after 12 weeks in work, in a move that will further harm it's relationship with British businesses, which has become increasingly strained under Mr Miliband's leadership.

And I reckon here are their names:
twitter.com/Conservatives/status/583026264010784769/photo/1

I'd like to have their names next to the names of the companies they are managing. Or is it that they decided to support Tories in this gentle way assuming that endorsement done this way is allowed.
What would the stakeholders of companies they lead say if they learn that their leaders are siding with political parties?

Like many or even most people, business leaders vote in their own best interests (and those of their close friends/ family).

Their political leanings tell you very little about what's in the best interests of their employees, or people generally.

Many of them suffer from the same lack of perspective and experience of life as politicians ...

Incidentally, 100 is rather a small number since this is a population that has usually been a strong supporter of (and donor to) the Tories.

The Europe question is a BIG issue for many business leaders - I haven't checked but I'd be astonished to see my employer's CEO on that list (FTSE 100 manufacturer, big exporter).

Oh, and we have Mr. Osborne, speaking of true game they have devised:
"We've got a hat-trick of good news about the British economy and with 37 days to go the election it's another sign that changing course would put recovery at risk.”

I'm intrigued to learn how longfingernails thinks that the entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism of American business leaders has helped cities like Detroit? Or could it be that they get their tax cuts and then move their manufacturing bases to cheaper countries like Mexico so as to avoid having to hire actual Americans on living wages?

What little socialism America actually has is all that stop people in states like Mississippi from starving to death. Some states have fantastically low levels of poverty, and that's great, but it's at the cost of others.

Don't imagine that a few boom stories from Palo Alto = "America is a great idea".

Do business leaders have my interests at heart? Aren't they responsible, in general, for a culture arising in which it's acceptable for companies to manipulate profits so as to substantially reduce or extinguish tax liability? Or acceptable for there to be so many zero hour contracts, And minimum wage workers? And stagnation in wage growth (apart from their own pay, obviously, which has grown almost exponentially).

No, I think I'll form my own opinion on who to vote for, thanks.

Oh, and YABU.

They matter, I suppose, because they employ us.

And even if there are things that need fixing in the labour market, it needs businesses doing well in order to function.

I agree that we need thriving businesses, but that does not mean that they should get to dictate the policy agenda for the whole country to suit there own needs.

How much evidence for trickle down economics is there actually?