Miliband criticism 'party politics'
Labour insisted it was trying to forge a consensus with industry about the future direction of the country as Ed Miliband came under fresh attack from senior business leaders.
The Labour leader has been accused of trying to close down debate about his party's policies by launching a personal attack on the Boots boss who suggested it could be a "catastrophe" if he became prime minister.
The Opposition leader vowed yesterday to "stand up to these powerful forces" and accused the Monaco-based Stefano Pessina of being part of an "unholy alliance" with the Conservatives against change.
Lord Rose defended Boots boss Stefano Pessina, after he had attacked Labour leader Ed Miliband
Voters would not "take kindly to being lectured by someone who is avoiding his taxes on how they should be voting in the UK general election", Mr Miliband suggested.
Labour mounted a fightback after the veteran Italian executive said the party's wider platform was "not helpful for business, not helpful for the country and in the end it probably won't be helpful for them".
London mayor Boris Johnson defended Mr Pessina's right to speak out, but added it was "disappointing" that he had moved Boots' HQ to Switzerland to reduce its tax liabilities - prompting Labour to challenge David Cameron and George Osborne to join in the criticism.
Meanwhile, shadow chancellor Ed Balls was attempting to build bridges with industry, saying that while there would always be some business leaders who took a "political view" on issues including taxation, the majority would back the party's policies on infrastructure, education and remaining in the European Union.
Mr Balls, r esponding to claims that a "bitter war of words" had erupted between his party and business, said: "Th e reality is there's going to be some issues in any society which become very divisive politically, and understandably.
"The level of taxation that you levy at any point of time, there will always be different views on that, and whether or not we should have a health service which is predominantly free or whether people pay.
"These are big political issues.
"There are always going to be some people in every community, including the business community, who take a political view.
"There will be some identified Labour-supporting business people who take a Labour view, and there will be some Conservative-supporting business people who take a very Conservative view - and they might even end up becoming Conservative ministers or Conservative peers.
"My sense is that the vast majority of business people don't particularly take the Labour view or the Conservative view, the view they take is 'what is the best way forward for our country in the next 10, 20, 30 years which will support the jobs and the growth that I want to create through my business' and they want to work with the government of the day and they want us to try and take a long-term view."
Speaking to an audience including business leaders as he outlined his party's plans for an independent national infrastructure committee, Mr Balls added: "You've got a choice: do you bury your head in the sand and hope it will all be OK or do you try and say let's make our economy stronger and reform it so that we can deliver growth and jobs for all and not for some?
"I think you are not going to do that unless you have got a world-class infrastructure and we stay in Europe and we have a decent education system."
Tory mayor Mr Johnson said he understood Boots' decision to be based in Switzerland, but said firms should pay their taxes in Britain if they earn "great sums" in the country.
He told LBC radio: "He is doing his best by the lights of his shareholders and the interests of the company. These guys, I'm afraid, have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to minimise their obligations. In business terms, it's what you have to do.
"I have to say I find it disappointing that he doesn't cough up for Britain ... I think it is a good thing if companies that earn great sums in Britain should pay their taxes in Britain."
On Mr Pessina's comments about Labour's economic policies, the mayor - who is hoping to return to the House of Commons for the Conservatives in the May 7 election - added: "I think the head of Boots is perfectly entitled to his view. I think too often, we have a lot of nervousness in great corporations about speaking out on political issues.
"Capitalists typically will be wary of any kind of uncertainty. They won't want to offend any politicians because they will be worried they may get in and start persecuting them, so I think it's quite refreshing to see some tycoon actually saying what he thinks.
"I think it is absolutely true that if you look at the modern Labour Party, they have no interest in wealth creation. They don't understand that in order to have a strong, healthy society, you have got to support the businesses that create the tax revenue and employ people and put bread on the table for people, otherwise you can't begin to pay for the poorest and neediest, for the welfare state and hospitals and everything else."
A senior Labour source: "Now Boris Johnson has joined the criticism of tax avoidance by the Boots chief, the question is will the Prime Minister and Chancellor do the same?"
Labour painted the latest attacks from business figures as a co-ordinated Tory operation, pointing out that among those at the forefront were a Conservative peer, a party donor and another who was knighted under David Cameron.
Among the most vocal was former Marks and Spencer boss Stuart Rose - once a member of Gordon Brown's business council and given a life peerage last year by the Prime Minister.
Lord Rose defended Mr Pessina's right to speak out and said Mr Miliband had "blown apart" decades of political consensus that the business sector should be cherished as an engine of growth, to return to 1970s-style Labour policies.
Writing in the Daily Mail he said b usiness craves "certainty" but Labour had engaged in a "steady drum-beat of anti-business policies" such as tax rises and "lacks a clear and credible plan" to deal with the deficit.
He added: "In a healthy, thriving democracy, people must be free to speak out without fear or favour."
Former B&Q chief Sir Ian Cheshire told The Telegraph that "personal attacks are pretty unattractive".
He said: "Even if you disagree with him, I don't think it is necessary to have personal attacks on Stefano in this way - particularly for a guy who has really ploughed a lot of money into the UK and is doing now to make Boots a world force."
Heathrow airport chairman Sir Nigel Rudd said: "We should listen to all opinions especially people who have created as many jobs and are as astute as Stefano Pessina.
"I would not make personal attacks on union leaders either if they had a view that I agree with or disagree with. We should encourage people to enter the debate."
Walgreens Boots Alliance insisted Mr Pessina's comments had been "taken out of context", and that he was expressing personal views and "not campaigning against Ed Miliband or the Labour Party".
Mr Balls accused Lord Rose of "playing party politics".
The shadow chancellor told Sky News: "The reality is you've got a Conservative-appointed member of the House of Lords appearing on the front of the Daily Mail, claiming to speak as a businessperson, making deeply personal attacks on Ed Miliband and political charges against Labour.
"Of course he's doing that because he is a Tory and he is playing party politics. Most people in business don't want us to play party politics. They want us to get on and do the right thing for Britain, and that's what we're doing today."
Responding to Mr Johnson's suggestion that Boots' tax arrangements were "disappointing", Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said: "It is absolutely right that companies that enjoy the benefits of operating in the UK must pay their full and fair share of taxes on the profits that they make in the UK.
"The Government has made important changes in this area, most recently in the Autumn Statement with the diverted profits tax, which is specifically designed to deal with multi-national companies that may seek to use artificial structures to divert profits away from the jurisdiction in which those profits are made."
Asked whether his comments would apply to the decision of stationers Smythson - where Mr Cameron's wife Samatha is employed as a consultant - to locate in Luxembourg, the PM's spokesman said: "The Government's job is to set out and ensure we have in place the robust, vigorously-enforced tax rules that we have.
"I don't comment on the tax affairs of individual companies."
The spokesman said that since 2010, HM Revenue and Customs has secured an additional £23 billion in tax revenues by challenging the tax affairs of large corporations.
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: "The mayor of London is right to set himself apart from the Prime Minister and make it clear he finds it disappointing when firms do not join the overwhelming majority of British businesses in making a fair contribution to the Exchequer.
"Rather than playing party politics on this issue, it would be welcome if the Prime Minister and Chancellor joined the mayor and us in presenting a united front on this issue."
When asked for his reaction to Mr Pessina's criticism of Labour's policies, shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said: "We are incredibly in favour of wealth creation, people creating successful businesses, making profit and investing in the UK.
"But we also have a rather old fashioned belief in no representation without taxation, so if you want to get involved in the debate in the general election it's probably good to have a vote here."
Mr Cameron said he could "very much agree" with Mr Johnson's comments about Boots' "disappointing" decision to locate its HQ outside the UK.
The Prime Minister told BBC Radio London 94.9: "I'm very clear that I want every company to be headquartered in Britain and I want everybody working in those companies to live in Britain. That's the aim.
"We have competitive tax rates, it's a great place to live and I encourage everyone to do that.
"The good news is lots of companies are choosing to headquarter in Britain and we will go on encouraging them to do so, and so I can very much agree with what Boris has said."
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