Writing in the Sun on Sunday on 10th November Ed Miliband MP, the Leader of the Labour Party, said:   My son Sam just turned three. One of his favourite cartoons is Peppa Pig.   My elder son, Daniel  aged 4, likes Tintin as well as the Octonauts.   We all know that at that age  - and any age - kids learn about values of family and friendship from what they watch.   We also know how easily they can be influenced. That’s why I really worry when payday lenders target our kids and young people.   And that’s what the evidence suggests they are doing. How else do we explain hundreds of thousands of pounds being spent by pay day lenders for adverts during children’s TV programmes. And why else are they using cartoon characters, trendy puppets or cute plasticine figures in some of their ads?   They aren’t simply doing it to appeal directly to parents. They want to use pester power to get kids and teenagers to put pressure on their parents.   And it is working. A survey by MoneySavingExpert.com last week suggested that 1 in 3 parents say their kids are repeating slogans of pay day lenders.   Even worse, as many as 1 in 7 parents say that when they’ve refused to buy something, children under 10 have told them to take out a pay day loan.   So now it’s our children who are being targeted by pay day lenders. That’s just not right.   Children’s entertainment must not become an easy route for loan companies to  exploit families – particularly those who are already struggling.   We don’t allow gambling firms to advertise during children’s TV. And we don’t allow junk food to be advertised either.   No two industries are the same, but we know the damage pay day loans can do to families and communities. People can take out a loan of a few hundred pounds and end up paying back thousands.   Parents shouldn’t face their kids being used as a tool of the pay day loan industry And kids shouldn’t be given the impression that pay day lending offers easy money without consequences.   Because we recognise the dangers of gambling, more restrictive rules are in place, preventing children and young people being harmed or exploited.   We should do the same for payday lending.   The next Labour government will ask the Advertising Standards Authority to prevent irresponsible advertising by pay day lenders that targets or exploits children and young people.   This is not just about content but also the time of day when such adverts are shown. There is no justification for ever selling pay day loans during children’s TV.   We will stop it. If this cannot be done through the advertising  watchdog, we will do it through legislation.   And we should look at the wider impact of advertising by payday lenders.   This week consumer groups and charities like the Citizens Advice Bureau and StepChange called for tighter controls on not just misleading but also irresponsible adverts.   There is more we need to do to stop payday lenders exploiting our families and communities.   The size of the pay day lending industry has doubled in just four years because of the cost of living crisis that is facing our country.   And these firms are spending so much of their multi-million pound profits to promote themselves, it is becoming hard to switch on a TV without being bombarded by their propaganda.   This week Wonga unveiled an expensively-shot new movie all about itself designed to make people think it was a cross between an essential public service and the fairy godmother.   Of course they can find customers who paid them back. But surveys show seven in ten people who took out a pay day loan say they regretted it, while half say they have struggled to find the money to repay, and almost a third were taken out to cover the cost of gas and electricity bills There are heart-breaking stories behind these statistics.   Like the young mum I met who took out a loan to pay for some nappies. One loan led to another and that led to many more.  She ended up spending most of the money she had each week on repayments and charges while being pursued by pay day lenders.   On the day I spoke to her, her phone had rung 15 times with calls demanding repayment.   That’s why we would act. We would cap the cost of credit using new powers in the Financial Services Act which this Conservative-led Government has refused to implement.   We would extend the levies on the profits of pay day lenders to double the level of Government funding for low cost alternatives such as credit unions.   And we would give local communities new planning powers to halt the growth of pay day lending and betting shops along our high streets.   A Labour government will act to clean up the pay day lending industry because I will stand up for ordinary families caught up the cost of living crisis.   For me, the first and last test of economic policy is what is happening to ordinary families.   We can tackle pay day lenders in the same way as we can tackle the big energy firms.   We can deal with the cost of living crisis.   Together, we can build a One Nation economy which works for everyone, not a Wonga economy which works for a few.   Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, has welcomed Ed Miliband’s comments. He said:   “We’ve been calling for a ban on payday loans on children’s TV.  The risk is they effectively groom a new generation of children, normalising, legitimising and mainstreaming this dangerous type of niche borrowing.   Our research shows 30% of parents tell us their under-10s are already repeating the slogans.  To hear the Leader of the Opposition pick up the cudgel is a joy.   “Marketing is at the core of these loans, which cause many people pain and misery.   They’re slick, fast, efficient technological plays, the crack cocaine of lending that have created a market that didn’t really exist five years ago – and sadly our lack of regulation means they thrive here while other countries have far more effective controls.  It’s about time this change on our high street was given prominent attention in the political sphere.”