Miliband vows to lead ‘party of the consumer’

The Labour leader said he would legislate to ensure Which? and Citizens Advice would be given a say in setting the agenda of the Competition and Markets Authority.

He said Labour would be “the party of the consumer” and the plan for an annual competition audit of the economy would help ensure that areas where regulators were failing would be identified and tackled.

Mr Miliband said: “Unless you bring the consumer into the heart of these things, we are not going to get the change we need, we are not going to shine the light on these broken markets.”

He added: “The Competition and Markets Authority scrutinises competition across the board. They will be working with Which?, the CAB and others to say ‘where are the areas where competition isn’t working, what are your members telling you about where we need to act?’

“They will be sending a report to Parliament and it will be framing the work for the year ahead.”

Mr Miliband has already promised action to reform the energy sector, including a freeze on bills if he wins the 2015 election, and last week set out measures to promote competition in bank- ing.

Shares in the predominantly state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds came under pressure after Mr Miliband unveiled his plans to break up Britain’s big five high street lenders.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told MPs before Mr Miliband set out details of his plan that capping banks’ market share would not lead to a “substantial improvement” in competi- tion.

But the Labour leader said: “He, to be fair to him, was asked about my speech before I made my announcement. He made the point that simply a market share for banks on its own isn’t enough, he is right.

“We also need greater portability of accounts, businesses and individual customers being able to move their accounts around more easily, that’s really important for proper competition.

“So he is right about that, it’s got to be a whole set of changes to make our banks work for our businesses rather than our businesses working for our banks, which is what so many of our businesses in this country feel they are doing at the moment.”

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said his organisation would welcome closer co-operation with the authorities but the Confederation of British Industry warned against interfering with the Competition and Markets Authority’s independence.

Katja Hall, the CBI’s chief policy director, said: “The role of the Competition and Markets Authority is to act as an independent body that judges how effectively markets are working for businesses and consumers.

“It should operate free from interference and not be told how to do its job by other stakehold- ers.”

Meanwhile, Mr Miliband has insisted shadow chancellor Ed Balls will remain in place until the election despite reports Labour MPs are unhappy with his performance.

The Labour leader said the shadow chancellor was doing a “really good job” and had a “clear sense of what this economy needs”.

A poll for the Observer found just 18 per cent believed Mr Miliband and the shadow chancellor would be the best custodians of the economy.

And the Mail on Sunday reported one Labour MP complaining that the shadow chancellor had “lost his mojo” and was “totally out of sorts”.