Brown ramps up attack on Tories over cuts

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today accused the Conservatives of planning to cut school funding and scrap NHS waiting list guarantees in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires.

Speaking at a rally to support the NHS in Northamptonshire, Mr Brown warned that a Tory victory in the General Election on May 6 would mean losing guarantees of cancer tests within a week, access to GPs at evenings and weekends and operations within 18 weeks.

Mr Brown has said that he is “upping the tempo” of his campaign in the final days, amid reports that Labour strategists believe he must become more visible to the general public if the party is to avoid ending up third in terms of votes behind the Tories and Liberal Democrats.

He today pointed to an International Monetary Fund report which said spending should be maintained through 2010 to support the economy as further proof that the Conservatives were wrong to plan £6bn cuts in public spending this year.

“It is the wrong thing to do for Britain, and I will not hesitate to go round the country every day saying the Conservative Party are now the greatest risk to the economic recovery in this country,” he said.

Following David Cameron’s indication in a BBC TV interview that Northern Ireland and the North East of England as areas which would face public spending cuts under a Tory administration, Mr Brown insisted that other areas would also lose out if the Conservatives won power.

Interviewer Jeremy Paxman cut into Mr Cameron’s comments last night, said the Prime Minister, adding: “I think he was about to name more regions, one by one, that would be hit by Conservative Party public spending cuts.

“Let’s be clear: there is no part of the United Kingdom that is safe from what the Conservative Party want to do by cutting resources necessary for our recovery.”

Mr Brown said today that he believed voters would choose to back “the many, not the few” when they recognised that the Conservatives’ priority was tax cuts for the wealthy rather than investment in public services.

He told the rally in Corby: “Our choice is to invest in schools, health and policing. You judge a party by what its priorities are.

“The main beneficiaries of the Conservative Party manifesto are not small businesses or married couples. The biggest beneficiary is 3,000 people who are the richest millionaires in the country who would get a £200,000 tax cut because of changes in the inheritance tax law.

“At this time, would you cut child tax credits, as the Tories propose, to pay for tax cuts for millionaires?

“Would you cut away the child trust funds that we are committed to to pay for tax cuts for millionaires?

“Would you cut the budgets of schools knowing that the money would go to tax cuts for millionaires?

“Would you put the health service guarantees at risk when you know that the money you are spending is going to go to tax cuts for millionaires?”

The “fundamental” difference between Labour and Tories at this election was “about whether your priority is tax cuts for a few or public services that help millions and bind the country together in doing so,” said the Prime Minister.

“I believe the British people will make their choice and the choice is for the many and not the few.”

While the Tories had sought to portray themselves as the party of the NHS, Mr Brown warned: “Look at the small print. Look at the detail. Look beyond the posters. Look beyond the presentation. And you will begin to see what really lies behind the Tories’ policy on the National Health Service.

“Vote Conservative on May 6, and on May 7 they will start to remove the very guarantees that we have put in being for every patient in the National Health Service.

“Vote Conservative on May 6, and from May 7 onwards they are committing – they are committing – to remove the cancer guarantee that we have put in place.”

Ahead of his speech, Mr Brown told reporters how he expected to approach the final week-and-a-half of the election campaign.

“As you get nearer to election day you are always upping the tempo,” he said.

“Of course we are upping the tempo. We are upping the tempo today and tomorrow. That was always the plan – to up the tempo.”

Aides said he would be engaging more with ordinary members of the public, including more question and answer sessions with people who are not Labour Party members.

The move appears to acknowledge criticism that the Prime Minister’s contact with the public has been limited, his focus being on gatherings with mostly Labour sympathisers.

Mr Brown dismissed Labour’s poor showing in the polls as a “phase”.

“In the end you can ask people what is the central issue that is worrying you, what is the issue you are concerned about, what is the most important issue for your family?” he said.

“My message will continue to be as strong about fairness, as well as about jobs and public services.”