 At the Labour conference in September 2013 , Miliband highlighted his party 's stance on the NHS and announced if elected Labour would abolish the bedroom tax . The conference included several ' signature ' policies , such as strengthening the minimum wage , freezing business rates , building 200 @,@ 000 houses a year , lowering the voting age to 16 , and the provision of childcare by primary schools between 8am and 6pm . The policy that attracted the most attention was the commitment to help tackle the ' cost @-@ of @-@ living crisis ' by freezing gas and electricity prices until 2017 to give time to ' reset the market ' in favour of consumers . In January 2014 Miliband extended the concept of reform to include the ' big five ' banks , in addition to the ' big six ' utility companies , and discussed the impact of the cost @-@ of @-@ living on the ' squeezed middle ' saying " the current cost @-@ of @-@ living crisis is not just about people on tax credits , zero @-@ hour contracts and the minimum wage . It is about the millions of middle @-@ class families who never dreamt that life would be such a struggle " . 
