Labour vs Big Business: the row that keeps on giving

David Cameron has the ammunition for two lines of attack when when he appears against Ed Miliband in tonight’s seven-way TV election debate.

The Telegraph letter

Cameron’s team are delighted by the success of their propaganda coup in mobilising 103 chief executives – including such household names as Duncan Bannatyne and Stuart Rose - to sign yesterday’s letter to the Daily Telegraph saying ‘Red Ed’ was "anti-business" and his election would threaten Britain's recovery..

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The Telegraph has followed up with 17 more signatories eager to support the Tory case for lower taxes on business. They include Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, Michael Grade, chairman of Pinewood Studios, and Michel de Carvalho, chairman of Citi Private Bank.

Egging them on, Telegraph commentator Janet Daley claims Miliband has turned Labour back to the pre-Blair 1980s: “They just want a ruck – an anti-capitalist grievance campaign. This is not only pre-Blair and pre-Mandelson: it is pre-Kinnock. We are back with Michael Foot and the great sectarian wars of the early Eighties.”

The Ed Balls 40% tax question

Cameron was handed more ammunition last night when Ed Balls refused to rule out lowering the starting point for the 40p tax band on middle-earners.

Balls said: “What I’d like to do is find ways I could have fewer people in the 40 per cent tax bracket. Of course I would.

“But I have to be honest with people. The deficit will be £90 billion. I have to find a way to get the deficit down in a careful, staged, balanced way.”

Cameron will be keen to point out that the Tories are promising to raise the threshold to £50,000 while Labour are threatening to drag more middle-income earners such as teachers, nurses and policemen, into the higher rate tax net.

Balls and Miliband have tried to turn the tables on the Tories by issuing their own “letter from the people” last night, signed by a mix of celebrities, business people and workers on zero-hours contracts.

The message was that only Labour would “speak for the many, not the few” and “put working people first”.

However, The Independent was quick to point out that one of the signatories, the designer Wayne Hemingway, is known for advertising for unpaid interns – exactly the sort of practice Miliband is promising to stamp out if he becomes prime minister.

According to the bookmakers, Nigel Farage goes into tonight’s ITV debate as the man most likely to “win”. But Cameron won’t give a monkey’s how the Ukip leader does: his sights are set on Miliband as he seeks to ensure that the Tories come out on 8 May as the larger party.