Cameron Pfizer stance attacked

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband attacked UK prime minister David Cameron for acting as a "cheerleader" for Pfizer’s bid for London-based AstraZeneca.

“David Cameron is in totally the wrong place on this issue,” Miliband told BBC’s Andrew Marr TV programme yesterday. “He has become a cheerleader for Pfizer’s takeover when instead he should be championing AstraZeneca’s long-term plan.”

With only a year to go before the next general election, Cameron’s Conservative-led government is trying to avoid interfering in the proposed bid while acting to protect UK jobs and the future of British science. AstraZeneca’s board rejected Pfizer’s £63.1bn (€76.7bn) sweetened offer for the UK’s second-biggest drugmaker on May 2.