Bloomberg pledges support for 'gutsy' David Cameron

Michael Bloomberg has pledged his support for British prime minister David Cameron ahead of the UK general election next week, claiming that failing to re-elect him would have "profound implications for the global economy".

"Over the past five years, David Cameron's gutsy decisions and strong leadership have helped the UK economy emerge from the global recession in far better shape than the rest of Europe. Now is no time to turn back," Mr Bloomberg said in a blog post on Wednesday entitled "Let David Cameron finish the Job".

"I hope British voters will give his Conservative party the majority it needs to continue strengthening the economy and keep the country on the right track," he added.

The rare intervention is only the second time that the business magnate and former mayor of New York City has publicly backed a politician since his endorsement of Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2012.

Mr Bloomberg, who employs 3,000 people in the UK and is building a new European headquarters for Bloomberg in the City of London, said his support stemmed from his "concern for the future of the UK economy and its importance to world markets", adding that the UK economy was in "dire straits" when Mr Cameron entered Downing Street in 2010.

Praising Mr Cameron's decision to embrace government spending cuts, he warned that the Scottish National party and the opposition Labour party could undo the "fiscal discipline" of the Conservatives and their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats.

"When Cameron adopted a fiscal plan that reduced borrowing, they predicted permanent stagnation. To his great credit, Cameron didn't cave. And time has shown him to be right," he said, noting that since he became prime minister, the UK has created more jobs "than the rest of Europe combined".

Stating that a victory for Scottish nationalists in last year's independence referendum would have been "a blunder of historic proportions", Mr Bloomberg added: "A government composed of Labour and Scottish Nationalists - notwithstanding Labour's assurances that it will not enter into such a coalition - would undermine that victory and, potentially, the Union itself."

With the polls indicating the tightest UK general election result for decades, Mr Bloomberg attacked Labour, claiming the party's planned tax increases "wouldn't be enough to cover all the new spending that would be required to keep the promises it has been making".

However, he conceded that he shared Labour leader Ed Miliband's reservations about a referendum on staying in the European Union, and also criticised the Conservatives' anti-immigration stance, saying that this could hold back further economic growth.

"But as one of my predecessors used to say: 'If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, you should vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, you should see a psychiatrist'," he added.

As the parties enter the final week of campaigning, Mr Miliband has taken the gamble of being interviewed by maverick leftwing comedian Russell Brand, and the Conservatives have pledged to freeze tax rises for five years.

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