Opposition leader Ed Miliband has launched his party’s general election promises, which feature the reforms to the energy market he announced in his party conference speech in 2013.
These will prevent any price rises being implemented by the suppliers over a 20 month period; creating a new energy regulator with the power to force suppliers to pass on falling wholesale costs; and the reintroduce the energy pool.
Miliband said: “Britain can be better – for you, your family and our country. But only if we change the rules by which the country is run, the ethic that drives government, the leadership we offer.”
His party has unveiled a new “budget responsibility lock”, which is the promise that a Labour government would cut the deficit every year, and that every policy in the manifesto will be paid for without requiring any additional borrowing.
Miliband added: “The very start of our manifesto is different to previous elections. It does not do what most manifestos do. It isn’t a shopping list of spending policies.
“It does something different: its very first page sets out a vow to protect our nation’s finances; a clear commitment that every policy in this Manifesto is paid for without a single penny of extra borrowing.”
He also attacked the Conservatives for “embarking on a reckless spending spree” and “throwing around spending promises with no idea where the money is coming from” for promising to find £8 billion of additional funding for the NHS over the next parliament.