Brown blast at Tories as economists back policy

The Prime Minister accused the Opposition of a "hatred" of state action that could push Britain back into recession and of trying to frighten voters about the scale of the crisis.

His latest broadside came on the eve of a major Labour rally at which he is expected to put the party on a firm election footing and unveil its campaign slogan.

Backing for Chancellor Alistair Darling's insistence on delaying spending cuts until next year came in two letters to the Financial Times signed by dozens of senior economists.

In a direct riposte to a letter sent to the Sunday Times by 20 leading economists urging more rapid action to tackle the 178bn deficit, some said premature action was "reckless".

The letters were organised by cross-bench peer Lord Skidelsky and Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, and signatories included two Nobel laureates and five former members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee .

A spokesman for Mr Darling said the letters had exposed shadow chancellor George Osborne's claim of an expert consensus on the need for early action as a sham.

And Mr Brown, addressing an international meeting of centre-left politicians in London, said: "I say to the British people: this is not the time to put the economy at risk; this is the time to make sure that growth and jobs are secured.

"This year must be the year of growth. It must not be the year when the economy dips back into recession."