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What we've had from this prime minister is denial about the past, continuing today, failure in the present and debt for the future
David Cameron
David Cameron has accused the prime minister of being "in denial" about the government's economic record and piling up debt for future generations.
Speaking in the Commons, the Conservative leader said the UK is facing its "deepest recession in a generation".
But Gordon Brown defended the government's record and renewed his attack on "do nothing" Tories.
Cameron repeatedly called on the prime minister to admit that "there is indeed an economic bust" and that he had failed to manage the economy effectively.
"You didn't abolish boom and bust, did you?" he asked.
Brown admitted that the UK was in recession, but said that ministers were taking action by supporting banks and announcing a fiscal stimulus.
"I've said that this is a deep recession, I've also said [it's] the truth that it is hitting every country in the world," said the prime minister.
The Conservative leader said the government had left the UK facing a more serious downturn than in other countries.
"Of course there is a world downturn, but our economy is sinking further and faster than the rest," Cameron told MPs.
"Even on his own definition, isn't it true that he led us into boom and bust?"
He added: "What we've had from this prime minister is denial about the past, continuing today, failure in the present and debt for the future.
"Shouldn't those be the death throws of a failed premiership?"
But Brown insisted that Conservative policies amounted to "doing nothing" and accused Cameron of playing "student politics".
The prime minister said the Tories will "get nowhere" if they don't accept the global nature of the problems.
"I see no one else around the world supporting his proposal to do nothing," added Brown.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg used the exchanges to say that peers, along with the "super rich", should pay full UK taxes.
Brown agreed that members of the Lords should pay in full, and insisted the government was helping ordinary families too.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd