DAVID Cameron has broken the political truce on the economy, blaming Gordon Brown's record of economic management, branding Brown's policies as Chancellor and Prime Minister as "a complete and utter failure''.

Graham Dines

DAVID Cameron has broken the political truce on the economy, blaming Gordon Brown's record of economic management, branding Brown's policies as Chancellor and Prime Minister as "a complete and utter failure''.

In a speech to City leaders, he said it would be up to a future Conservative government to fix Britain's broken' economy.

Mr Cameron said the Tories' support for the Government's bank bail-out plan did not mean they were now backing Labour's entire economic policy and doctrine.

“Gordon Brown is hoping that his whirlwind of summitry will mean that we will forget what has come before. Forget that: as we enter a downturn, where jobs, home and livelihoods will be lost - that he was the one who created this mess in the first place. But I won't forget - and the British people won't forget.”

Mr Cameron said the country was now paying the price for a "wave of debt-fuelled growth'' encouraged by Mr Brown to pay for Labour's public spending promises.

“The result was a combination of irresponsible capitalism and irresponsible government that has brought us to instability and our present crisis. The Chancellor who prided himself on prudence came to believe that he uniquely in the history of economics had ended the trade cycle and abolished boom and bust.

“So he thought the good days would never end, and borrowed and borrowed and borrowed, and racked up the biggest Government deficit in the developed world.

“And he stood aside as our households racked up over a trillion pounds of personal debt. So when the boom did turn to bust and the value of assets fell our financial system was hit harder than most,” said the Tory keader.