David Cameron has said the momentum is growing against Labour's planned National Insurance rise.
The Tory leader said the proposed increase was "the wrong tax at the wrong time for the wrong reason" as he told bakery workers in Bolton his proposals to find £6 billion to reverse Labour's planned hike.
Mr Cameron's first stop was the Warburton's bakery in Bolton, whose executive director Richard Warburton was among the first tranche of business leaders to endorse the Conservative plan.
Despite renewed Labour claims the executives had been "deceived" into giving support, the Tories named another 30 who had joined the list, taking the total to 68 senior figures employing a total of more than 850,000 people.
The new signatories included Corus chief executive Kirby Adams, Northern Foods chief executive Stefan Barden, Reed Elsevier chairman Anthony Habgood and Jewson chief executive Peter Hindle.
Mr Cameron said: "What we are talking about is saving one pound out of every hundred pounds the Government spends. When you think what businesses have had to save, when you think what shopkeepers have had to save, if you think what a small family firm has had to save in this recession, if you think of the decisions families themselves have had to make about some things they can no longer afford, why don't we get government to do the same thing?"
