Brown challenges Tory budget plans

Sunday 02 May 2010by Paddy McGuffin

Labour have warned that Tory budget proposals would shrink the economy by £6 billion and lead to thousands of job losses if the party was elected.

The warning came as the major parties rallied for a final push in the run-up to Thursday's poll.

Tory leader David Cameron claimed that if elected he would call an emergency budget which he said would "slash bureaucracy" and reform public services.

He also pledged to introduce a "war Cabinet" to address the issue of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and introduce Bills to allow the first new-style "free schools"- a central plank of the party's education manifesto - to open as early as September.

Teaching unions have warned that Tory education plans are "a patchwork of policies, littered with contradictions and hopelessly out of touch with public opinion."

Mr Cameron also proposed a "Great Repeal Bill" to dismantle what he called Labour's "Big Brother" legislation.

Gordon Brown hit back by urging voters to look closely at Tory policies and the party's plan for an emergency budget that would "shrink the economy by £6bn."

This would mean the loss of "thousands of teachers and thousands of policemen and thousands of other people serving our community," he warned.

Mr Brown said the big issues were "who is best for the health service, who is best for our schools, who is best for our communities and policing, who is best for jobs and the recovery."

He added: "Get the big decisions right about this country and we can have prosperity and justice for all.

"But get the big decisions wrong, as the Conservatives and Liberals would do, and we face more jobs lost, more businesses lost."

He also derided the policies and personality of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, saying: "We're talking about the future of our country. We're not talking about who's going to be the next presenter of a TV game show."

Mr Brown described Lib Dem policies on immigration and tax as looking like they were written "on the back of an envelope."

For his part, Mr Clegg said the Labour Party was in "existential crisis" and questioned its continued relevance.