ED MILIBAND set out his pitch to win back “Middle England” for Labour on his first day as the party's leader – as he insisted his “Red Ed” nickname was nonsense.

Under pressure after snatching the leadership only with trade union votes, the 40-year-old used interviews to reassure "mainstream" voters that he did not represent a "lurch to the left".

Mr Miliband – who said he had a "nice conversation" with his defeated brother, David – added: "I think there are big injustices we need to deal with in Britain, many of them affecting so-called Middle England.

"People who are working hard, working long hours, they don't have enough time to see their kids, they are worried about their kids getting into debt, they are worried about housing.

"They are the people I want to speak for – all these characterisations about 'Red Ed' are both tiresome and also rubbish."

In the interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, Mr Miliband also:

Declined to say whether David Miliband would sit in the Shadow Cabinet saying: "He needs time to think about the contribution he can make";

Suggested his other defeated rivals, Ed Balls and Liverpool-born Andy Burnham, would be given top jobs, adding: "I'm going to bring together all the talents from our party. The past is another country as far as I'm concerned";

Hinted Labour would slow down its plans for spending cuts, describing former Chancellor Alistair Darling's deficit reduction plan as merely "the right starting point";