Ed Miliband pledges more say for consumers on competition
Mr Miliband said Labour aimed to be "the party of the consumer" A future Labour government would involve consumer groups in ensuring there is genuine competition between businesses, Ed Miliband has said.
The party leader told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show bodies such as Which? and Citizens' Advice would help regulators draw up an annual competition audit.
Ministers would have an obligation to address any concerns raised.
Mr Miliband said addressing greater competition was a way to tackle pressures on the cost of living.
It follows announcements by Mr Miliband of plans to promote more competition in the banking sector and moves to reform the energy industry.
The pressure on living standards has become a political focus for all the parties ahead of the general election next year.
'New economy'A new regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, is due to take over the roles of the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading from April.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Miliband called for a "new economy" based on "open" not "broken" competition.
He said Labour aimed to be "the party of the consumer" and would legislate to enable consumer groups to be involved in tackling potential problem areas.
"Unless you bring the consumer into the heart of these things, we are not going to get the change we need," he said.
"We've got to make sure that we have a system in place to shine a light on broken markets."
He said Which? and Citizens' Advice would work alongside the authority "providing the information, setting the agenda for the future, setting the agenda for how we can ensure competition to benefit consumers and businesses".
He added: "They will be sending a report to Parliament and it will be framing the work for the year ahead."
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