Fighting talk

THERE continue to be occasions when Ed Miliband, still struggling to assert himself as Labour’s leader, adds to his difficulties through his own poor phraseology: another interview with Jon Snow, of Channel Four News, left viewers none the wiser about whether he supports a public sector pay freeze or not.

There have also been instances when he has led the political debate and then allowed himself to be usurped by David Cameron; past speeches on the “squeezed middle” and “crony capitalism” are two such examples.

And, with his future under persistent speculation, it is up to the Doncaster MP to win his war on “rip-off Britain”, his latest policy theme and one that will strike a chord with taxpayers across the country.

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He is right. There are now too many instances when hidden charges are levied without justification or adequate transparency, such as pension fees. There have also been dramatic increases in parking charges at station, or in airline levies.

Add in the public’s growing anxiety over spiralling energy bills and the fact that many consumer helplines cost 50p a minute to use and Mr Miliband has, cleverly, identified one of the biggest curses in contemporary society – a belief, from both public and private sector organisations that the so-called squeezed middle have a bottomless pit of money.

They do not. The challenge is finding a solution that protects the public interest. The Government would say that Consumer Focus, a conglomeration of watchdogs, should be fulfilling this role.

In contrast, Mr Miliband advocates a new consumer body, although he is not specific on the details. His task, at a time when his party, the trade unions and voters are keen for greater clarity, is to come up with a policy framework that will make a material difference to consumers in this country.