Rachel Reeves claims Labour can be pro-worker and pro-business

Shadow chancellor calls for closer collaboration, as business leaders sign letter saying Labour should be given chance to lead Britain

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers a speech during a visit to Rolls-Royce in Derby, England, on Tuesday. AP

UK shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has told business leaders that Labour can be trusted with the country's economy and that together with businesses and workers, the opposition party can "bring growth back to Britain".

In her first major election campaign speech on Tuesday, she said a Labour government would be both "pro-business and pro-worker" and Labour was the "natural party of British business".

“By bringing business back to Britain we can deliver a better future for working people,” she told a gathering of business leaders at a Rolls-Royce plant in Derby, in the East Midlands.

Meanwhile, a letter signed by 120 business leaders, including the former chief executives of Aston Martin, Heathrow Airport and The Times newspaper, appeared to back Labour's notion that it was time for change.

"Labour has shown it has changed and wants to work with business to achieve the UK’s full economic potential. We should now give it the chance to change the country and lead Britain into the future," the letter said.

One of the signatories is Rachel Coldicutt, the founder and executive director of technology research consultancy Careful Industries.

"Over the past two years, the Conservatives have shown that they are not particularly the party of small businesses and they're not supporting entrepreneurs," she told The National.

"I think, actually, the Conservatives have been focused on big picture, big money and not the day-to-day reality."

The founder of Wikipedia, Sir Jimmy Wales, and restaurateur Tom Kerridge have also signed, along with the founder of a childcare company in which Rishi Sunak's wife previously held shares.

However, no chief executives from the 100 largest companies on the London Stock Exchange signed the letter.

Referring to the letter, Ms Reeves spoke of what she sees as the increasingly close relationship between the Labour party and the business community.

"A few years ago, you might not have expected to have heard these things from the Labour party. Think how far we've come under Keir Starmer's leadership in four short years," she said.

She said she is “not one of those politicians that thinks that the private sector is a dirty word, or a necessary evil”.

She added: “I want to lead the most pro-growth, the most pro-business Treasury that our country has ever seen, with a laser focus on delivering for working people."

Who's who in the Labour cabinet - in pictures

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition. PA

Angela Rayner, shadow deputy prime minister and shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities. PA

Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor of the exchequer. Reuters

Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary. PA

Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary. Getty Images

Wes Streeting, shadow health and social care secretary. Getty Images

Ed Miliband, shadow energy security and net zero secretary. Getty Images

David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary. Reuters

Pat McFadden, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and national campaign co-ordinator. PA

Nick Thomas-Symonds, shadow minister without portfolio. PA

Jonathan Ashworth, shadow paymaster general. PA

Shabana Mahmood, shadow justice secretary. Getty Images

Jonathan Reynolds, shadow business and trade secretary. PA

Liz Kendall, shadow work and pensions secretary. House of Commons

John Healey, shadow defence secretary. PA

Louise Haigh, shadow transport secretary. PA

Thangam Debbonaire, shadow culture, media and sport secretary. House of Commons

Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chairwoman and shadow women and equalities secretary. PA

Steve Reed, shadow environment, food and rural affairs secretary. PA

Peter Kyle, shadow science, innovation and technology secretary. PA

Hilary Benn, shadow Northern Ireland secretary. House of Commons

Ian Murray, shadow Scotland secretary. House of Commons

Jo Stevens, shadow Wales secretary. Getty Images

Emily Thornberry, shadow attorney general. House of Commons

Lisa Nandy, shadow cabinet minister for international development. UK Parliament / AFP

Darren Jones, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury. House of Commons

Ellie Reeves, deputy national campaign co-ordinator. House of Commons

Lucy Powell, shadow leader of the House of Commons. House of Commons

Alan Campbell, opposition chief whip in the House of Commons. House of Commons

Baroness Angela Smith, shadow leader of the House of Lords. House of Commons

Lord Roy Kennedy, opposition chief whip in the House of Lords. House of Commons

Ms Reeves spoke of the “five missions for a decade of national renewal” laid out by Labour leader Mr Starmer last week.

She detailed plans for 40,000 new NHS appointments every week, a Border Security Command to “smash the criminal gangs and strengthen our borders”, a publicly owned Great British Energy company, an antisocial behaviour crackdown and plans for 6,500 new teachers.

Mr Starmer has also tried to win over businesses to show the party can be trusted with the economy.

To a large extent, this seems to be working, given the attendance at a recent business summit convened by Labour in London, where senior party leaders, including Ms Reeves, spoke of a renewed and growing partnership with business.

Nonetheless, Ms Reeves' remarks about Labour being pro-worker and pro-business come after it faced a backlash over an apparent rebranding of its New Deal for Workers, with Britain’s largest trade union Unite warning the party must “stick to its guns” on workers’ rights.

Labour insisted it had not watered down its commitments and said the proposals had followed an agreement with the unions.

The Conservatives have argued that Labour’s proposals would cost jobs and place unnecessary burdens on businesses, but the opposition has claimed good businesses will welcome the plans.

Treasury chief secretary Laura Trott said Labour would “tie businesses in red tape”.

“The bosses of Asda, Marks & Spencer, Currys and the Confederation of British Industry have all warned that Labour’s French-style union laws risk damaging the economy, costing jobs,” Ms Trott said.

“Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan that businesses can rely on.

“We took the bold action to deliver the biggest business tax cut in modern history. Labour would tie businesses in red tape and raise taxes by £2,094 ($2,675) on hardworking families.”

Britain's Labour Party through the years - in pictures

Labour leader Keir Starmer celebrates winning the UK general election with a speech at Tate Modern in central London in July. All photos: Getty Images

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, and Mr Starmer meet party supporters in Harlow in May

London Mayor and Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan, and his wife Saadiya Khan, pose with supporters after Mr Khan was re-elected in May

Mr Starmer meets and greets supporters in Chatham in 2023

Then-party leader Jeremy Corbyn during a 2017 visit to Oxford

First minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, left, and leader of Scottish Labour Kezia Dugdale place roses at a memorial for murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, in Glasgow in 2016

Labour leader Ed Miliband, sixth right, holds his first shadow cabinet meeting at the House of Commons in 2010

Newly elected Labour prime minister Tony Blair stands on the steps of No 10 Downing Street with his wife Cherie in 1997

Mr Blair, John Prescott and Gordon Brown at the Labour Party Conference in 1997

Former leader Neil Kinnock, left, shares a joke with Peter Mandelson, a key figure behind the party's 1997 general election landslide victory, at the party conference in 1997

Leader John Smith addresses a miners' rally in Hyde Park, London, in 1992

Mr Kinnock with a group of youngsters publicising Labour's jobs And industry campaign in 1985

BBC TV coverage of the October 1974 general election, with Labour prime minister Harold Wilson and his wife Mary visible on a screen in London

Mr Wilson, left, and Labour politician Tony Benn speaking at a press conference during the 1974 general election campaign

Barbara Castle speaking at the Labour Party Conference in 1969

Mr Wilson waving outside No 10 in 1964

Mr Wilson, left, with deputy leader George Brown in 1963

A campaign poster issued by the Labour Party depicting leader Hugh Gaitskell arm-in-arm with Barbara Castle and Aneurin Bevan in 1959

Party leader Clement Attlee with a Labour delegation, boarding a plane on their way to China in 1954

Mr Attlee and his wife Violet attending a film premiere in London in 1952

Members of the Labour cabinet at No 10 in 1929: Clockwise from top left: Tom Shaw, Arthur Greenwood, Noel Buxton, Sidney Webb, Arthur Henderson and prime minister Ramsay MacDonald

Mr MacDonald addressing a Labour victory meeting at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 1924

From left, Mr Henderson, William Brace, William Adamson, Vernon Hartshorn and James Henry Thomas outside Unity House during a coal workers' strike, in London, 1920

Scottish Labour politician James Keir Hardie addressing a peace meeting in Trafalgar Square, London, in 1914

Mr Hardie speaks at a tailors' rally on May Day in Hyde Park, London, in 1912