Ed Miliband hits back at “unholy” alliance of Boots boss Stefano Pessina and Conservative Party
Labour leader Ed Miliband has hit back at Alliance Boots boss Stefano Pessina at a question and answer session hosted by Sky News at Facebook's London headquarters.
Over the weekend, Pessina told the Telegraph that a Labour government would be a "catastrophe" for Britain. Pessina's company boasts 2,500 stores and employs 70,000 staff.
Miliband told an audience of young voters:
I don't think people in Britain are going to take kindly to being lectured by someone who's avoiding his taxes on how they should be voting at the UK General Election.
You've now got this unholy alliance between the Conservative party and people like him who are saying the country can't change.
Last night, Alliance Boots was keen to stress that Pessina's comments had been "taken out of context" and that he was speaking in a purely personal capacity. Miliband's comments add to a flurry of Labour voices that have attacked the Italian businessman.
Speaking on the Today programme this morning shadow chancellor Ed Balls said:
The idea that someone who does not pay any tax in Britain should be telling British people how to vote, will stick in the craw of many people. Pessina's intervention was unusual as business leaders tend to shy away from expressing their political opinions so openly.