Labour gets £250,000 General Election boost from green energy firm as Tory 'anti-business' jibes are exposed

Ecotricity is backing Ed Miliband because of Labour's environment and European policies while fellow millionaire Rajesh Agrawal also said he was backing Labour

A leading green energy company is donating £250,000 to Labour in a major boost to Ed Miliband as he battles Tory claims the party is anti-business.

Ecotricity founder Dale Vince OBE, worth an estimated £107million, said the firm was giving the money to Labour because of fears the Tories would drag Britain out of Europe and David Cameron’s broken promises on the environment.

The six-figure donation to Labour’s General Election war chest comes as another leading businessman, the multi-millionaire Rajesh Agrawal, also said he was backing Labour.

The double endorsements are a coup for Mr Miliband, who has come under fire from the Tories and their rich supporters and donors for “sneering” at business.

The billionaire boss of Boots, Stefano Pessina, said Labour would be a “catastrophe”, while Tory peer Lord Stuart Rose said Mr Miliband wanted to take the country back to the 1970s.

But Mr Vince, whose company supplies green energy to thousands of households, praised Labour’s economic plans and lashed out at the Tories for their “hideous” failure to stand up to UKIP.

“There’s no way to my mind that the Labour Party is anti-business,” he said.

“It’s a very stark choice between the two parties that can form the next government.

"The Tories have been increasingly anti-renewable energy and using Eric Pickles to overturn planning decisions for what looks likes party political purposes - to defend themselves from UKIP.”

The entrepreneur also warned of the “nightmare” danger that the Tories could take Britain out of the European Union.

And he said his views on Europe were shared across the business community, not just those engaged in renewable energy.

“The Tories could take us out of Europe , which is a nightmare," he said.

"This seems to have been done to protect themselves from UKIP. This is all about party before country and its a hideous abdication of responsibility by the Prime Minister

“There’s a concern for quite some time the Conservatives don’t want to talk about the issues of climate change and Europe.

“It’s not just the green economy which is worried about Europe. All companies are worried about that,” he told the Daily Mirror.

Mr Vince admitted that part of the reason for donating to Labour was the Tories’ moratorium on onshore wind farms.

But he said he was also motivated personally by “spiteful” policies such as the Bedroom Tax, as well as the Government’s failure to value a green economy that is responsible for more than a million jobs.

“There’s always been a broad consensus among the main political parties on climate change, and that consensus has been broken in the last couple of years and that’s why we face a very stark choice,” he said.

And he rubbished claims Mr Cameron had led the “greenest government” in history, comparing his failure on the environment to Nick Clegg’s broken promise on tuition fees.

“It was a massive promise and it’s been a massive disappointment. It’s a broken promise and its bigger than Nick Clegg’s broken promise. This has been the least green government ever and if they get back in this will be an even less green government,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Agrawal, boss of currency exchange RationalFX, said the recent attacks on Mr Miliband were “extraordinary” and said the biggest threat to economic stability was the Tory referendum on EU membership.

“The idea that to be ‘supportive of business’ the Labour Party can’t challenge the status quo where the market is failing or distorted is wrong-headed and politically and economically puerile.

"Yes, it’s important that the government supports wealth creators, but it is not ‘anti-business’ to expect businesses do their bit for the country in return,” he said.

Mr Agrawal, who is worth an estimated £350million, praised the “bravery” of Mr Miliband on championing the EU.

“The biggest threat on the horizon to economic stability isn’t a Labour policy, it’s a Conservative one: the politically motivated prospect of a referendum on the EU in 2017. ," he said.

"This sop to the Tory right and desperate attempt to end the haemorrhaging of votes to UKIP represents a clear and present danger to British business interests.

“The prospect of an EU exit will create enormous market insecurity, risk billions of pounds in trade and investment and prevent much needed jobs being created here.

“Ed Miliband has been brave and right to remain firm in his commitment to remaining in Europe and business should support him more vocally than we have to date.

"After all, the vast majority of business leaders I know will privately admit that Labour has certainly got this one right."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/labour-gets-250000-general-election-5135302


With the huge amount of tax evasion being shown up by Tory pals businesses coming out and saying they support Labour, Cameron has not had a good day