More than 120 business leaders have written an open letter giving their backing to Labour in the general election.

Senior figures, including chef Tom Kerridge and former CEOs of Heathrow, JP Morgan and Aston Martin, said the party had “shown it has changed and wants to work with business to achieve the UK’s full economic potential”.

They said the public should now “give it the chance to change the country and lead Britain into the future”.

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Both Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have long been making efforts to win over the business community since taking over the party from Jeremy Corbyn.

An open letter printed in the Times and signed by figures including the founders of Wikileaks Jimmy Wales and Koru Kids – the latter of which was once invested in by the prime minister’s wife – shows signs of success in the endeavour.

In the letter, the business people said it was “time for a change” as “for too long now, our economy has been beset by instability, stagnation, and a lack of long-term focus”.

They said the UK had “the potential to be one of the strongest economies in the world”, but a “lack of political stability and the absence of consistent economic strategy has held it back”.

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The leaders added: “We are looking for a government that will partner fiscal discipline with a long-term growth strategy, working in partnership with the private sector to drive innovation and investment to build digital and physical capital and fix our skills system.

“This is the only way to put us on track for sustained productivity growth.

“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.

“We are in urgent need of a new outlook to break free from the stagnation of the last decade and we hope by taking this public stand we might persuade others of that need too.”

Labour will be both “pro-worker and pro-business” if it wins the general election, Rachel Reeves will pledge on Tuesday.

The shadow chancellor will seek to reassure the corporate world of her credentials in her first major speech of the campaign, promising to “lead the most pro-growth Treasury in our country’s history”.

But speaking to an audience of company bosses, she will say their success depends on that of their workforce, claiming only Labour can deliver on both.

It comes after more than 120 business leaders, including chef Tom Kerridge and Wikileaks founder Jimmy Wales, signed an open letter giving their backing to Labour to “achieve the UK’s full economic potential”.

But it also follows a backlash over the rebrand of its workers’ rights package last week, described by one union boss of having “more holes than Swiss cheese”.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott pointed to attacks on the “French-style union” policies from Asda and Currys, saying they “risk damaging the economy [and] costing jobs”.

She added that “Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan that businesses can rely on”, while Labour would “tie businesses in red tape and raise taxes”.

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Both Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer have sought to win over business voters since taking over the party from Jeremy Corbyn.

Pointing to the change in direction, the shadow chancellor will say: “Our plans for growth are built on partnership with business. A mission-led government, prepared to take on the big challenges we face and ready to seize the opportunities of the future.”

She will emphasise the party’s “first step” for government, promising to “build all its plans for the future on the bedrock of economic stability”.

Referencing decisions taken by the Conservative government of the past 14 years, she will add: “It is clearer than ever that in this election, in the face of Tory chaos, stability is change.

“Stability, so that we never again see a repeat of the mini budget and the damage it did to family finances. Stability, so that families and business can plan for the future.

“Stability of direction, so we can bring together government, business and working people in common purpose, to meet the great challenges of our time.”

Ms Reeves will say that by having business on their side, Labour can bring both investment and hope back to the country.

“If we can change this party to bring it back to the service of working people, if we can return it to the centre ground of politics, if we can bring business back to Labour, then I know we can bring business back to Britain,” Ms Reeves will add.

“To bring investment back to Britain. To bring growth back to Britain. To bring hope back to Britain.

“Because by bringing business back to Britain we can deliver a better future for working people, by creating good jobs that pay a decent wage. Bringing in investment to build strong communities with thriving high streets. Putting more money in people’s pockets. And having pride in the good and services made in Britain, but exported around the world.”

Making her election pitch, she will say the vote on 4 July will be “a chance for the British people to pass judgement on fourteen years of economic chaos and decline under the Conservatives”, adding: “The choice at the next election is simple: five more years of chaos with the Conservatives or stability with a changed Labour Party.

“We will fight this election on the economy. Every day we will expose the damage they have done, and set out Labour’s alternative.”

But the SNP’s Drew Hendry said the upcoming speech “cynically ignores the most fundamental reason for the economic decline of the United Kingdom – Britain is broken and Brexit broke it”.

He added: “If Labour were actually interested in backing business and growing the economy, they wouldn’t have foolishly ruled out a return to the European single market and the customs union.”

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The Conservatives will be turning their attentions to pensioners on Tuesday, announcing they will increase their tax-free allowance in line with the triple lock – meaning it will always be higher than the state pension.

Claiming the move will cut people’s taxes by £100 next year, Rishi Sunak will say: “I passionately believe that those who have worked hard all their lives should have peace of mind and security in retirement.

“This bold action demonstrates we are on the side of pensioners. The alternative is Labour dragging everyone in receipt of the full state pension into income tax for the first time in history.”

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats will be focusing on crime, promising a “burglary response guarantee” so all domestic burglaries are “attended by the police and properly investigated”.

Pointing to official government figures showing almost 76% of burglaries went unsolved last year, party leader Sir Ed Davey will say: “Too many families now feel unsafe in their own homes because this Conservative government has decimated frontline policing for too long.

“Victims are being denied justice because Conservative ministers can’t even get the basics right on solving crime. That is why the Liberal Democrats would deliver a burglary response guarantee, to ensure all home burglaries are attended by the police and properly investigated.”

The Conservatives have promised to cut taxes for pensioners by creating a new “age-related” tax-free allowance – dubbed “triple lock plus”.

Currently, people can receive £12,570 a year of their pensions before they start paying income tax on them – the same figure as the personal allowance for those who work.

But if the party wins the next election, a pensioner’s allowance would rise in line with either average earnings, inflation or by 2.5% – whichever is higher – from next April, echoing the rules on annual state pension increases.

Rishi Sunak said the move “demonstrates we are on the side of pensioners”, and would bring people “peace of mind and security in retirement”.

But Labour’s shadow paymaster general, Jonathan Ashworth, called it “another desperate move from a chaotic Tory party torching any remaining facade of its claims to economic credibility”.

He added: “Why would anyone believe the Tories and Rishi Sunak on tax after they left the country with the highest tax burden in 70 years?”

The Liberal Democrats said the Conservatives had “hammered pensioners with years of unfair tax hikes”, adding: “People won’t be fooled by yet another empty promise from Rishi Sunak after this record of failure.”

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The Conservatives first brought in the triple lock when they were in a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats in 2010 to tackle pensioner poverty, saying the annual rise would protect retirees from hikes in living costs, and both Labour and the Lib Dems have promised to keep it in place.

However, while the state pension has continued to rise, the threshold for when both pensioners and those of working age pay income tax has remained frozen since April 2021 when Boris Johnson was in power, meaning some of those on lower incomes have been brought into paying tax.

This new measure would change that for pensioners, with a “guarantee in legislation that the pensioners’ personal allowance will always be higher than the level of the new state pension”.

The Tories said eight million people would save around £100 next year and gain further savings each year as the tax-free allowance grew, with the £2.4bn a year policy paid for through “clamping down” on tax avoidance and evasion.

Making the announcement, Mr Sunak said: “I passionately believe that those who have worked hard all their lives should have peace of mind and security in retirement.

“Thanks to the Conservatives’ triple lock, pensions have risen by £900 this year and now we will cut their taxes by around £100 next year.

“This bold action demonstrates we are on the side of pensioners. The alternative is Labour dragging everyone in receipt of the full state pension into income tax for the first time in history.”

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But Labour’s Mr Ashworth hit back, saying: “Not only have they promised to spend tens of billions of pounds since this campaign began, they also have a completely unfunded £46bn policy to scrap national insurance that threatens the very basis of the state pension.

“Labour will protect the triple lock. But Rishi Sunak is planning to reward Britain’s pensioners for their loyalty by stabbing them in the back, just like he did to Boris Johnson and just like he has done to his own MPs.”

Sunak turns gaze to older voters – and leaves questions for Labour

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

This is another bold and very political announcement by the Conservatives.

It was only months ago that there had been discussion in Whitehall of whether the triple lock had a future at all, given its extortionate cost.

Now the Tories have gone in the opposite direction, dressing up an income tax cut for pensioners as a beefing up of the expensive ratchet measure.

It will likely prompt questions of generational fairness, given that tax thresholds for those of working age are still due to stay frozen until 2028, while at the same time the triple lock has seen the state pension rise by 8.5% this year and 10.1% in 2023.

Tory sources pointed out that workers had already had a big national insurance cut. And while they said there were currently no plans to unfreeze allowances more broadly, they did re-emphasise an ambition to keep cutting taxes in other areas if feasible.

This move is political because it will inevitably lead to questions about whether Labour will follow suit and mirror this promise.

If they do not, expect accusations of a Labour tax rise for pensioners.

What’s more, with the state pension expected to rise above the current allowance level in a few years, the Tories are also suggesting that a Labour government would drag everyone who claims the state pension into paying income tax for the first time.

The hobbling irony there, of course, is the main reason that would happen is the tax allowance freezes that the Tories brought in.

Coming off the back of the national service policy blitz, this is clearly another attempt to reach out to the Tory base of older voters.

Combine that with Rishi Sunak’s recent visits to traditional Conservative heartland seats and it’s hard not to conclude that this is a campaign currently in a defensive mode.

What’s maybe more interesting though is that, as yet, neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrats have criticised the substance of the policy change directly, no doubt aware of the political risks of being seen to line up against tax cuts for pensioners.

While the Conservatives will focus on pensioners, Labour will use Tuesday to appeal to businesses as shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves makes her first major speech of the general election campaign.

She will promise to run “the most pro-growth Treasury in our country’s history” if her party takes power on 4 July, and promises to be both “pro-worker and pro-business, in the knowledge that each depends upon the success of the other”.

It comes after more than 120 business leaders, including chef Tom Kerridge and Wikileaks founder Jimmy Wales, signed an open letter giving their backing to Labour to “achieve the UK’s full economic potential”.

The Liberal Democrats will turn their attention to crime on the campaign trail, pledging to introduce “burglary response guarantee” so all domestic burglaries are “attended by the police and properly investigated”.