David Cameron has been accused of plagiarising Ana Botin, chief executive of the Santander bank, after they both said profit and wealth creation were "not dirty words" within the same fortnight.
The prime minister used his keynote address at the Tory Party's annual conference business to say: "Profit, wealth creation, tax cuts, enterprise — these are not dirty, elitist words. They are not the problem. They really are the solution."
However, Cameron's comments have drawn accusations of plagiarism as they closely echo those of Santander CEO Ana Botin, who said less than two weeks ago at the Institute for Directors' annual convention: "Profit, wealth creation, competition: these are not dirty words, but the lifeblood of a dynamic economy."
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett accused David Cameron of copying the Santander chief, telling HuffPost UK: "The close match between Mr Cameron's speech and that of Ana Botin is telling.
"We now have further evidence of how the Tory Party,which depends on the City for half of its funding, acts as the financial industry's mouthpiece."
"I would suggest if Mr Cameron is seeking someone to plagiarise, this is a particularly bad choice."
The Spanish-owned bank was recently said to be the worst bank in Britain in terms of customer satisfaction and in online security.
An IoD spokesman told the Huffington Post UK: "We always intend for our Annual Convention to set the agenda for the year ahead, and Ana Botin's contribution to the debate has clearly helped to do exactly that."
HuffPostUK contacted Conservative Campaign Headquarters but they declined to comment.
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