Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary responding to the withdrawal of Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca from the Tory-orchestrated business letter said:

“This is an embarrassment for the Tories. I am not at all surprised that - learning of the party political nature of this letter - the Chief Executive of AstraZeneca Pascal Soriot has withdrawn his signature. It will be interesting to see whether other signatories feel the same way.

"It is right that business leaders express their opinions on policy issues and contribute to the debate, but it is only by government and business working in partnership that we will create sustainable growth and more high-skilled, better-paid jobs. As Mr Soriot has demonstrated today, most business leaders want to work with whichever party is in government.”