Gordon Brown has been accused of manipulating his economic policies to deliver an unsustainable boom in the run-up to a general election year.

A group of independent economists claims that the chancellor has "conjured up a classic pre-election boom" by ignoring fears of a black hole in public finances.

The accusation comes in a report published today by the Independent Treasury Economic Model, run by the accountants Ernst and Young.

The chancellor said the report's authors had got their growth forecasts wrong and should show "more humility".