E.On energy company's rebuff to Labour's Ed Miliband

Labour leader Ed Miliband's plan to freeze gas and electricity bills has come under fire from energy firms in the UK.

E.On's chief executive responded to Mr Miliband's plans in a letter he read out on BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

Calling for "honesty" in the debate, Tony Cocker wrote: "Successive governments have collected taxes for different schemes through energy bills and this has added extra pressure and is a factor in why bills have risen over a sustained period of time.

"All politicians, from all sides, need to acknowledge that fact. At a stroke you could remove a large cost from energy bills simply by moving these costs to general taxation."