“We should have acknowledged earlier, after the financial crisis happened,
that eventually there would have to be cuts under Labour,” Mr Miliband said.

“Our plans involved cuts and we should have acknowledged that. The problem we
faced was that we sometimes looked like we were pretending there weren’t
going to be cuts under Labour, when there were.”

The Labour leader also said that the party should “take our responsibility for
not having regulated the banks sufficiently, along with governments around
the world.” The UK economy was over-reliant on the financial sector and
“too exposed” the financial crisis, he said.

And in a clear reference to Mr Brown’s most notorious claim, Mr Miliband
added: “Clearly, we should not have said there would be no boom and bust.
That was clearly a mistake.”

Yet minutes after listing Mr Brown’s errors, Mr Miliband named the former
premier as a source of advice.

In a separate radio interview, Mr Miliband said: “This job is such a hard job
that it is right that I keep in touch with the people who had done it, so I
talk to Gordon Brown, I talk to Tony Blair, obviously I talk to Neil Kinnock
as well.”

“It’s only when you have been in the job you start knowing what the job
involves, you can really understand the pressure it involves, so I get
advice from lots of people.”

Mr Miliband has faced Conservative accusations that he is “Red Ed,” his agenda
set by the trade unions who help fund the Labour Party.

Trying to play down that image, Mr Miliband warned the unions he would not
support industrial action targeting the Royal wedding or other public
events.

Some union officials have suggested that London Underground workers could
strike on April 29, the day of Prince William’s marriage. Union leaders
have also refused to rule out strikes around the time of the London Olympics
next year.

“I am appalled at the idea of strikes to disrupt people going to the Royal
Wedding and enjoying the Royal Wedding,” Mr Miliband said. “Of course they
should not strike to disrupt the Royal Wedding. It alienates the public, it
is wrong and it is not the way to make the political argument that we need
to make.”

“That is absolutely the wrong thing for trade unions to do. I hope that is not
the case, I hope it is not true, but I would totally condemn that –
similarly in relation to the Olympics.”