Cameron focuses on economy

David Cameron has been attempting to claim the mantle of economic competence from Labour in a series of announcements.

In an interview with the Financial Times he claimed that the government is  "completely exhausted" and that the Conservatives should be judged on whether they can deliver economic stability.

 

The Tory leader also vowed to reverse the "historic mistake" of the Labour government in signing the EU social chapter, which limited on working time among other measures.

 

Cameron said that he wanted to cut the size of the state but that reducing borrowing would come before tax cuts.

 

Speaking at a City breakfast, he said: "Using the tax burden is never a good idea because you can reduce or increase the tax burden depending on what you do with government borrowing. It is not a good measure of our success."

 

On the overall economic climate he said: "At this time of great economic uncertainty and unease, people are looking to their government for one simple thing: reassurance.

 

"Reassurance that the government knows what it's doing, that it has a plan to steer our economy through the present turbulence into more stable and prosperous conditions. But the current government is simply unable to provide that reassurance.

 

"On the financial crisis, we have seen dithering and delay instead of decisive action.

 

"Worse than that, the financial crisis has itself revealed the serious failures of economic strategy since 1997.

 

"As the tide of debt-fuelled economic growth recedes, we are now seeing the rocks exposed: the rocks of an economy that is in no fit state for the 21st century."

 

His intervention came as a YouGov opinion poll for the Telegraph found that the so-called 'feel good factor' - assessing voter confidence in the economy - currently stands at minus 52 per cent, the lowest level since 1981 when measurements began.

 

Over the course of the next 12 months, 64 per cent of people believe that their financial situation will "get worse", compared with just 12 better who think the opposite.

 

The poll also found that the Conservatives are 14 points ahead of Labour.

 

It discovered that 43 per cent back the Tories with Labour on 29 and the Liberal Democrats on 17.

 

If the results were repeated in a general election, David Cameron would have a majority of more than 100.