Speaking in front of the 8ft 6ins-high piece of limestone, the Labour leader said he would keep the stone “in a place where we can see it every day as a reminder of our duty to keep Labour’s promises”.

Labour said the stone came as part of an effort to rebuild the public’s trust in politics, after the issue was highlighted by a series of pointed questions from the audience during last week’s final TV debate on BBC Question Time.

But the stone was widely mocked on social media on Sunday morning as being like something out of political satire The Thick Of It, and said it could be interpreted as Labour’s “tombstone” if it lost.

The pledges on the stone read: “A strong economic foundation”, “higher living standards for working families”, “an NHS with the time to care”, “controls on immigration”, “a country where the next generation can do better than the last” and “homes to buy and action on rents”.

“Our six pledges form the basis of our plan for working people,” Mr Miliband said.

“These six pledges are now carved in stone, and they are carved in stone because they won’t be abandoned after the general election.

The leader of Britain’s Labour Party, Ed Miliband

“I want the British people to remember these pledges, to remind us of these pledges, to insist on these pledges, because I want the British people to be in no doubt – we will deliver them. We will restore faith in politics by delivering what we promised at this general election.”

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