Ed Miliband repeated his pledge to freeze energy prices until 2017 if he is elected as Prime Minister when he visited Hornsey this morning.

Almost 100 people braved pouring rain to watch the Labour party leader give a speech about what he called the “cost of living crisis” in the Broadway, Crouch End.

Mr Miliband, joined by Catherine West, the Labour candidate hoping to become the MP of Hornsey and Wood Green, described it as the most important issue facing families across the country.

He said: “A Labour government would mean freezing energy bills to benefit families, to benefit businesses and to benefit public services.

“To families it would save £120, to business it would save thousands of pounds, and today we are telling people that for the NHS alone it would save £40million.

“That’s enough to pay for 1,300 more nurses in our national health service.”

Mr Miliband has promised to freeze energy prices until 2017 if he wins the General Election in 2015.

He said the policy would save £700million in London alone and a total of £100million for the public sector.

The Labour leader accused the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats of being on the side of the energy companies rather than on the side of the public.

Mr Miliband, who is MP for Doncaster North, said: “David Cameron is on the side on the Big Six and joining them to make the Big Seven – that is what you get from him.”

The Labour leader added that tackling the cost of living crisis would also involve tackling the housing crisis across the country and in London as well as strengthening the national minimum wage, providing more child care and taking on the payday lenders.

Mr Miliband said: “Isn’t it time we tax the payday lenders to help the credit unions who are helping families, not hurting families.

He added: “Over the next 18 months we have a huge fight on our hands – a huge fight for young people and a huge fight for those facing the cost of living crisis.

“We can win that fight, we must win that fight and we will win that fight.”