5. Miliband Wants To Portray His Party As Pro-Business... Yet He Has Been Criticised Publicly By Labour Backer Lord Noon
One of the key battles of the 2015 General Election is the economy and which of the two major parties can attract the support of the business community - with the Conservatives already releasing a letter signed by 100 company leaders praising their approach, while Labour have blasted so-called zero-hour contracts. But, in February 2015, Miliband heard dissenting voices on Labour's business approach from inside his own party. Businessman Lord Noon, a Labour peer who has donated close to £900,000 to the party down the years, has called Miliband's approach to dealing with the business community "embarrassing". Noon was highly critical of Miliband's failure to talk about the deficit in his conference speech in 2014, while he also blasted Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls for forgetting the name of a business donor during an interview. He said: "I cringed when Ed Balls forgot the name of a business backer and Ed forgot whole paragraphs from his conference speech. It is very embarrassing." If Miliband can't even convince his own Labour Party members that he has a grasp on the economy and on how to deal with business leaders, then how is he going to argue against the Conservatives' rhetoric and convince the public as well?
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
