Top businessman who believes Ed Miliband can take the country forward

Labour's chair of small business taskforce Bill Thomas says that while Ed Balls couldn't remember his name, Labour are good for business

I’ve been in business 30 years, but it wasn’t until this week that I officially became a “Somebody”.

Shadow Chancellors were forgetting my name and Prime Ministers were calling me names and my business credentials were being scrutinised.

The truth is that I was an Exec Vice President at EDS, ending up as Senior Vice President and General Manager at Hewlett Packard.

I served on the President’s committee of the CBI for 9 years and I now serve on a number of boards. I am proud to be a part of the new board brought in to help get the Cooperative Bank get back on track.

It’s been quite a surprise to find myself (and even my dogs) all over the news.

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls forgot my surname when he was asked to name Labour’s business backers on Newsnight and I was called “Bill Somebody” by David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Question Time.

But that’s hardly a big deal. To their constant amusement, I get my daughters’ names mixed up all the time.

And, I’m OK with being called a Labour supporting businessman and I see no contradiction in that. I think a Labour government led by Ed Miliband would be good for British business and good for Britain.

We do need to balance the deficit but as well as tight spending control we need a growing economy with high quality jobs rooted in competitive firms.

I happen to personally believe that our best chance of achieving this is inside Europe and it is Labour who are brave enough to say that Britain should stay in the EU.

Every time we threaten exit from the EU it drives investment away from Britain, damaging British business and costing British jobs.

The EU needs to change, but we should reform it from within as committed partners. Whilst far from unanimous, this is a widely held view among business leaders, and for very good reason.

This week it happened to be me in the spotlight, but surely we want everyone to have the chance of becoming a Somebody – to get on in life and realise their potential.

That’s why I agree with their plans to improve apprenticeships – including putting employers more in charge of the system and making vocational education a real career choice for young people.

I think Ed Miliband’s goal of as many school leavers choosing apprenticeships as going to university will strike the right balance for the economy. It is good for our young people, good for business and good for Britain.

My experience is mostly in big business and I understand the absolutely critical role of our top FTSE firms.

Put simply, roughly half the working population work in them and they represent half the business community. Without the taxes paid by those people and those firms there would be no public,services, no health service, no education for our children, no defence of the UK.

But I also understand the importance of small firms for the jobs, new ideas, and even new industries that they can create.

That’s why it was a real privilege for me to lead Labour’s Small Business Taskforce, continuing the work begun by venture capitalist, philanthropist and life-long Labour supporter Nigel Doughty.

That’s why I was so pleased that Labour has adopted many of the most important recommendations the taskforce made to help businesses grow and reach their full potential. These include setting up regional banks – inspired by the German Sparkassen – to lend to businesses within a defined area; and a Small Business Administration – inspired by the US SBA – to bring coherence, focus and drive to small business policy.

These are practical Labour policies that will make a real difference to small and growing firms. The countries we compete with are much more focused on helping small firms and making sure their young people have the skills they need to carve our meaningful careers and provide for their futures.

I didn’t choose the attention I have received this week, but the upside is the opportunity that it has given me to share my views. I am Bill Thomas, a businessman, and I support Labour. I am far from alone in this, or even especially rare.

I know plenty of senior business people who vote Labour, support Labour and share Labour values – although not all want to take a public position.

As a businessman, my views may carry some weight with you, or they may carry none at all.

The great thing about a democracy is that, in the end, whoever we are – running a company or working for one, leaving school or long retired, at the summit of our careers or in the foothills – we each only have one vote. Whatever you think, you should make it count.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/top-businessman-who-believes-ed-5124743