The hardy band of business leaders backing Labour

Founders of LoveFilm and Ecotricity give public backing to Miliband and co, dismissing idea that party is anti-business

"If you are seen as a Labour businessperson, you are diminished." Simon Franks, the co-founder of LoveFilm, is adamant that the dearth of visible business backers for Ed Miliband's party has more to do with fears about being ribbed as a lefty than any of Labour's policies. "This idea that Labour's not pro-business - if anyone wants to debate that with me, send them over," he says over coffee at a Bloomsbury hotel.

"In the current circumstances, it's quite frustrating for those people who are involved in business who are supporters of the Labour party to see how manipulative some of the rightwing media can be. People have open ears to hear some things and closed ears to hear other things."