- guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 September 2009 20.29 BST
- Article history
Alistair Darling delivers his speech at the Labour party conference 2009. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
Labour will hand the political initiative to the Tories for up to two decades if the party fails to inspire voters, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, saidtoday.
A day after he warned Labour that the party appeared not to have "fire" in its belly, the chancellor said that Britain was facing one of the most important elections in generations.
"If we don't inspire the electorate, if we don't take our message out, then you can't expect somebody else to do it," Darling told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.
"We have it in our hands to take the Tories on, because the country in a few months time will be deciding on a government that could influence the way in which we go, not just for five years, but for five, 10, 20 years. That is why the choice is so important," he said.
He issued his warning shortly after delivering a cautious assessment of the British economy in his speech to the Labour conference.
The chancellor, who had to revise his growth forecast downwards in the budget last April, told delegates in Brighton: "Many independent forecasters now believe the UK is coming out of recession. I think it is too early to say so with total confidence.
"But I stick with my budget prediction that, as long as we continue to support the economy, recovery will be under way in the UK by the turn of the year."
However, the chancellor warned: "Even when we begin to see growth in the economy again, unemployment is likely to keep rising for some time."
Any improvement in Britain's economic fortunes will form the basis of an all-out attack on the Tories for having "failed" the test of the recession. Darling claimed that the recession would have turned into a depression under the Tories, because they would have opposed three key measures: increasing borrowing to stimulate growth, nationalising Northern Rock and preventing the widespread collapse of the banks.
"As the financial crisis turned into the deepest global recession since the 1930s, they alone said we should do nothing to support the economy," Darling said.
"At every stage, the Tories have misunderstood the causes of the crisis. Underestimated its severity. And opposed the measures to limit its impact."
Darling accused the Tories of adopting a "callous and counter-productive" approach by calling for cuts in spending this financial year while Britain is still in recession. This shows that voters would face a choice between a Labour government committed to protecting frontline services and a Conservative party which has "reverted to type and is relishing the chance to swing the axe".
He added: "The ... Tory party deep down sees public services as essential only for those who have failed to do well enough to go private for their healthcare or education."
Darling's attack was sharper than a lecture he delivered in memory of the former Labour prime minister Jim Callaghan earlier this month. He stepped up the rhetoric for two reasons: political attacks are par for the course at a party conference and, more significantly, because Brown's belated admission at the TUC that Labour would have to impose cuts cleared the ground for a more detailed assault. Brown changed tack at the urging of Darling.
In his speech, Darling confirmed that he would introduce legislation in the Queen's speech in the autumn to restrict bankers' bonuses and to put the government's plans to halve the fiscal deficit over four years on a statutory footing.
He said: "In the next few weeks we will introduce legislation to end the reckless culture that puts short-term profits over long-term success. It will mean an end to automatic bank bonuses year after year. It will mean an end to immediate payouts for top management.
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