I'm not anti-business, claims Ed after attack on asset strippers

Ed Miliband today denied being "anti-business" after his conference speech alarmed firms over red tape and new laws.

"This isn't anti-business, it's anti-business as usual," insisted the Labour leader following criticism of his attacks on "predators", "bad business" and "asset strippers".

The Labour leader tempered his message today by saying he was not singling out firms but bad practices.

However, in a series of TV and radio interviews he also said the state would intervene more in future, for example to check whether companies such as the failed Southern Cross old people's homes had "a sustainable business model or not".

And he suggested that the era when Labour met its equality goals by raising state spending would have to give way to an increased use of either regulation or more imaginative spending.

"Spending is not going to be the way we achieve social justice in the next decade," he said. "Unless we reform our economy...unless we get that political economy right, we are not going to get the changes we want to see."

Yesterday's speech was described as "divisive and a kick in the teeth" by former Labour trade minister and CBI chief Lord Jones. The Federation of Small Business said his call to make firms offer apprenticeships to qualify for state contracts would harm enterprise.

And the CBI said Mr Miliband "must be careful" before labelling any firms asset strippers. Mr Miliband said his definition of predatory behaviour was "when a business does something which is in its own short-term interests but does significant damage to the long-term health of our economy".

In a bold experiment, 2,000 members of the public are being allowed into the Labour conference this afternoon to question Mr Miliband.