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Cooper Criticises Labour As 'Anti-Enterprise'

Cooper Criticises Labour As 'Anti-Enterprise'

Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper has said that her party needs to reset its relationship with business.

It follows an election in which some said the party came across as "anti-enterprise".

The Shadow Home Secretary said that the party's leadership had often used language which weakened its relationship with those who create wealth.

In a thinly-veiled criticism of Ed Miliband, she also condemned the party's stance for being "anti-business, anti-growth and ultimately anti-worker".

In making her comments, Ms Cooper, who is married to former shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, has made her first major policy proposal since joining the race for the leadership following Mr Miliband's resignation two weeks ago.

She said the party could not be "set against" cuts in corporation tax proposed by the Conservative Government.

Her comments come in the wake of the party's worst defeat for decades.

Ms Cooper is standing against Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Mary Creagh for the leadership, but there may be others who are yet to confirm they are taking part.

She said: "We need to reset our relationship with business around a shared vision for building an economy that faces the future.

"Too often in the past our rhetoric undermined that positive relationship with business, and with the creation of jobs and wealth for the future.

"Our rhetoric can't be set against the wealth creators and drivers of our future economic growth. We can't be set against business, and too many believed we were.

"We need to always show how we support jobs and business growth, as well as ensuring businesses show responsibility towards their consumers and staff."

Last week, Gordon Brown's former business adviser Lord Sugar revealed he had resigned from the Labour Party .

The Apprentice star said he had lost confidence in the party over the last year and that it had been "aware of my disillusionment for some time".

In a statement, Amstrad founder Lord Sugar said: "In the past year I found myself losing confidence in the party due to their negative business policies and the general anti-enterprise concepts they were considering if they were to be elected."

In an article for the Daily Mirror last week, as she announced her intention to run for the leadership, Ms Cooper pledged to "make life better for families".

She also conceded that Labour lost the General Election because it didn't convince voters it "had the answers".

Harriet Harman, who is overseeing the leadership process, said on Monday that the Electoral Reform Society had been appointed to make sure unions cannot skew their members' votes.

A winner will be named in September.