12:39am Saturday 20th March 2010
The creation of a ''People's Bank'' operating through the post office network will be among the highlights of Labour's election manifesto, the cabinet minister in charge of writing it indicated today.
Ed Miliband said he wanted to show it could be a ''very serious financial institution'' and a ''defining'' legacy of a fourth-term Labour government in the way the NHS was for the administration elected in 1945.
Polls have shown overwhelming public support for the creation of a publicly-run bank in post offices amid widespread distrust of high street financial institutions in the wake of the taxpayer-funded bailout.
In an interview with The Guardian, Mr Miliband said: ''Institutions are the things that define governments. The 1945 government was defined by its relationship with the NHS.
''The 1997 government was defined by ... institutions like Sure Start. I think the idea of the People's Bank, the network of post offices around the country connected by a new financial institution, is one of those ideas.
''It speaks to people's sense of community - and frankly, banks have let down low-income consumers, and others as well. It is part of a new deal for the low paid around the banking industry.''
He went on: ''Up to now we have not put into practice this idea that it can be a very serious financial institution and, if you like, a competitor to the conventional private sector.
''At present there are limits to what the Post Office can offer in terms of current accounts - we will expand those services and link them up with credit unions.''
Mr Miliband also hinted that manifesto promises could include a significant rise in the value of the minimum wage, free school meals for all pupils and votes at 16.
Labour's pitch for votes at the election - expected on May 6 - would not ''promise the earth'', he said, and would be ''very clear about where the money comes from''.
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