Ed Miliband: mansion tax to restore 10p tax rate The pledge comes as Mr Miliband seeks to make the "crisis" in living standards the focus of the next election. He will seek to argue that the "squeezed middle" has never been more squeezed than under the coalition, as wages stagnate while inflation continues to rise. Food, childcare and fuel costs are putting family budgets under strain and only Labour can provide an adequate response, with far taxes at the heart of the answer, he said. Yesterday, David Cameron raised the prospects that the Conservatives could reintroduce the 10p band, only for a senior Lib Dem to dismiss the idea hours later. One proposal being studied in Whitehall would see the first £2,500 of taxable income taxed at 10p in the pound rather than the current 20p. This would reintroduce the 10p rate for income between £10,000 and £12,500, about the level of the national minimum wage. The Labour leader was pressed on whether his plan for a mansion tax was a firm manifesto pledge, but he insisted it was "responsible" to wait until nearer the next election before announcing concrete plans. "We've rightly said that we will only set out our tax and spending commitments at the next general election," he said. However, this is a clear signal about the priority we attach to a fairer tax system and the living standards of working people. He told the audience of trainees, local business people and reporters that he had chosen to come to Bedford because it was where the Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan gave a speech in 1957 in which he declared: "You've never had it so good." Mr Miliband said the reality was "very different" today. People are working harder than ever before but for far too many, wages are falling and prices are rising. They feel worse off not better off. He attacked the Prime Minister for delivering tax cuts for millionaires while hoping the rest of society would see the benefit "trickle down" from the top. "There is a better way than that," he said. Our economy will only prosper when the vast majority of the people of this country prosper too, when working families have confidence and security, when they can invest in the future, and when they can start businesses of their own. Mr Miliband declared: "This is a high stakes election. We are at a fork in the road. We can carry on as we are: falling wages, low growth, failure to tackle the deficit. Or Britain can take the path I have outlined: a recovery made by the many. Answering questions after the speech, Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor claimed both he and Mr Miliband had warned Mr Brown not to scrap the 10p tax rate in 2007. They both now believed it was right to reverse the decision, he said. A new raid on 70,000 "under-taxed" mansions, half of which are second homes that lie empty for months, would raise at least £1.7 billion, he said. Mr Balls offered again to work with the Liberal Democrats to introduce the mansion tax, which has been a long standing policy for Nick Clegg's party. Vince Cable, the Lib Dem business secretary, immediately welcomed Labour's plan. "The mansion tax is not just about fairness, it is also about giving the right signals to the economy," Mr Cable said in response to a question at an event in London. I'm glad Mr Miliband has adopted it.