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Firing the opening shots of a long election campaign, Gordon Brown has warned that the Conservatives would drag Britain back into an economic depression.
As the Labour Party conference drew to a close in Brighton, the prime minister published a campaign document setting out differences between the two parties.
The document, called 'The choice for Britain', sets out how the party will frame the election as a choice between differing visions for the future.
It claims that under a Conservative government, by 2015 the country will have seen hospital closures, longer waiting times for cancer treatment, thousands fewer police officers on the streets and a rise in unemployment.
Brown said voters face the choice of a Tory government which will cut public services and plunge the country into economic decline or a Labour one which will focus on the welfare of the public rather than the interests of the wealthiest.
"We are fighting for a better future for our country," the prime minister writes in the foreword.
"The Tories represent change the many cannot afford. That is the stark choice before the British people at the next election."
Brown insisted that the country has changed since 1997, but can improve further.
"By 2015, we want our country to be fairer, greener, more prosperous and democratic," he wrote.
"A new Labour government based on our enduring mission to offer everyone, not just the privileged few, the chance to succeed."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
Grahame Leon-Smith
2nd Oct 2009 at 8:36 am