Britain’s Opposition Labour Party Ed Miliband waves as he announces his party’s election manifesto at Granada studios in Manchester, northern England, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband tried to overturn a damaging perception his party cannot be trusted on the economy, unveiling a manifesto he said showed it had the most responsible plan to manage Britain’s finances.

In a speech tackling what experts say is one of Labour’s greatest electoral weaknesses, Miliband sought to reverse his party’s low ratings for economic credibility, an area where Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives have long led.

“Over the last four-and-a-half years, I have been tested,” Miliband told supporters in the northern English city of Manchester, a traditional stronghold.

“Tested for the extraordinary privilege of leading this country. I am ready.”

Britain is facing its most unpredictable election since the 1970s on May 7 and most polls show Labour and the Conservatives neck-and-neck. At stake is more than simply who will govern the $2.8 trillion economy: Cameron has promised a referendum on EU membership while Scottish nationalists, who want Scotland’s independence, are seeking a kingmaker position.

In power from 1997-2010, Labour was in charge at the time of the global financial crisis and left Britain with its biggest peacetime deficit since World War II. Cameron’s party, which has presided over a strong recovery, has repeatedly portrayed Labour as the party that crashed the economy.

But Miliband said Labour had learnt the lessons from the crisis and could balance the books in a fairer way than the Conservatives.

There is a challenge for us to show that we are going to be fiscally credible

“You want Labour values and a new start but you ask whether we can be responsible with our nation’s finances,” he said.

“This is a plan to change our country. It is a manifesto which shows Labour is not only the party of change but the party of responsibility too.”

Speaking in a freezing former TV studio, Miliband, 45, spoke in front of a giant red poster reading: “A better plan. A better future.”

Labour Party strategists see the launch of the manifesto – a document detailing what Labour would do if it won the election outright – as a potential breakthrough moment which could help set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

Lacking major new policies and vague on some important economic policy issues, it is unlikely to be read by many voters. But with polls showing no one party on course to win outright, it could come into its own in future negotiations if Labour finds itself trying to do a deal with another party.

Miliband signalled changing people’s perceptions about his party’s economic record would be tough, but denied he had left it too late.

“Absolutely there is a challenge for us to show that we are going to be fiscally credible and get the deficit down, I am being quite open about that,” he said.

Peppering his speech with references to bankers he suggested were overpaid and tax avoiders, he made frequent references to his core message which casts Labour as a party for all Britons and the Conservatives as a party for the rich.

Miliband said funding for every pledge in the manifesto had been clearly set out and none would require extra borrowing.

Labour would reduce the budget deficit each year, he added.