ED Miliband has sought to mend his strained relations with the trade unions, describing their members as "the backbone of Britain" and moving away from any attempt to end the unions' influential block vote before the next General Election.

Addressing the TUC annual conference, the Labour leader said the 2015 poll would be a "high stakes election", which would determine whether a privileged few or ordinary workers would benefit from the economic recovery.

He received a polite if unenthusiastic reception in the wake of the Falkirk candidate selection fiasco and his radical plan to change the way trade unionists pay affiliation fees from an automatic to a voluntary basis.

While Mr Miliband stressed he was "absolutely determined" to push through the funding change, his aides also made clear reforms would, for now, go no further to end the unions' block vote at party conferences or their key role in electing the party leader.