Speaking today at Battersea Power Station, Ed Miliband accused payday lenders of praying on the vulnerable by using “bullying, harassment and threats”.
He also accused lenders of creating a “quiet crisis” which has left thousands of families trapped in unpayable debt.
Miliband also hit out directly at Wonga after the firm released a film telling the stories of 12 of its customers.
Wonga chief executive officer Niall Wass told Sky News that his firm had decided to make the film to help dispel the "negative" image of the company.
He said: "We felt the need to release it because we felt that the voice of the customer, really the silent majority of people using our service, was not being heard.
"Generally you hear a lot of criticism about our service out in the media and actually the super positive stories that we see every day from our customer feedback are not being heard, so we wanted to redress that balance and allow their voice to come out.
"We didn't think it was fair the characterisation of some of our customers, so we want people to reconsider, judge for themselves have a look at our site have a look at those videos and see what you think."
But Miliband slammed Wass’s comments. He said: “Payday lenders don't speak for the silent majority.
"The Wonga economy is one of the worst symbols of Britain's cost of living crisis.”
His comments came as payday lending big wigs faced questions from a Commons committee about the practices of the industry.
