Gordon Brown in new class war attack on 'privileged few' as he attempts to win back Middle Britain

By Tim Shipman
Updated: 11:11 EST, 30 December 2009

A defiantly optimistic Gordon Brown will today try to woo back Labour’s lost Middle England voters with a New Year message promising ‘a decade of shared prosperity'.

The Prime Minister will admit that Britain needs change - but he will insist that he is the one to deliver it and will warn that a vote for the Tories will ‘wreck the recovery’.

Reshaping Labour’s class war attacks, Mr Brown will accuse David Cameron’s team of plotting to create a country where the ‘majority lose out while the privileged few protect themselves’.

Optimistic: Gordon Brown will insist that he is the one to deliver change and will warn that a vote for David Cameron and the Tories will 'wreck the recovery'

But stung by criticism from senior ministers that the class-based attacks are alienating floating voters, Mr Brown will also promise that Labour will do more for ‘aspirational’ voters on middle incomes who have abandoned the party.

Mr Brown will pledge for the first time that unemployment will come down next year, despite recent expert predictions that the jobless total will soar to 2.8million in 2010.

He will also strain the credulity of his critics by saying that tackling the soaring Budget deficit is his number one priority for the New Year - just weeks after he intervened to stop Chancellor Alistair Darling spelling out spending cuts in his Pre-Budget report.

In order to convince voters he is serious, Mr Brown will shortly unveil intentions to publish a ‘prosperity plan’ to invest in jobs of the future, which he claims ‘will really get Britain moving forward again’.

In extracts from the broadcast, which will be available as a podcast this evening, the Prime Minister will make a bold appeal to Middle England, saying: ‘I believe we can create a decade of shared prosperity - with opportunities fairly shared among all those who work hard and play by the rules.’

Starting what could be his last five months in power, Mr Brown will say: ‘My message today is simple: don’t wreck the recovery.

‘The recovery is still fragile, and it needs to be nurtured in the interests of those who were hit hardest by the recession – the people on middle and modest incomes who don’t want any special favours. They simply want a bit of help to own their own home, set up their own business, and give their children the best start in life.’

Mr Brown will add: ‘We are determined to reduce the deficit at a responsible pace, without choking off the recovery or damaging the frontline services the mainstream majority rely on.’

In a webcast for the Downing Street website, he will set out an optimistic assessment of the country's prospects for economic recovery in the next 12 months.

Stealing Barack Obama’s mantra of ‘change’, Mr Brown will claim that ‘Britain's dynamic entrepreneurs have defied the recession to start up nearly half a million new businesses.’

And he will claim the credit for the fact that fewer companies closed their doors this year than last.

He will say: ‘That wasn't inevitable; it was the change we chose. I am confident that, if we continue with the tough decisions we have made, unemployment will start to drop this year.’

That will be hard to stomach for many voters who believe that Mr Brown’s reckless spending in the good times has condemned Britain to a deeper slump than her EU partners.

But the tone of the message suggests that Mr Brown has taken on board criticism from ministers including Lord Mandelson, Jack Straw and Tessa Jowell that Labour can’t just appeal to its core vote.

They were appalled that Mr Brown sought to make political sport out of Mr Cameron’s public school education with the claim that his policies were formed ‘on the playing fields of Eton’.

Lord Mandelson in particular has repeatedly told Mr Brown that the general election will be a ‘change election’ and that he will lose unless he can show that he can change Britain for the better.

The Business Secretary has played a key role in drafting the Prosperity Plan, which will spell out plans for investment in high-speed rail, aerospace, the digital economy and clean energy.

Tory leader David Cameron is also expected to adopt a sunnier tone in January in order to give voters a more positive vision of Britain if the Conservatives take power next year.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling last night accused Mr Brown of continuing to wage 'a negative and pointless class war'.

He added: 'Gordon Brown has spent money like there is no tomorrow yet the gap between rich and poor has grown wider than ever. This message sounds like the last throw of the dice from a Government that has no idea how to solve Britain's problems.'

In his New Year message, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has laid down a challenge to other party leaders to tell people what they really believe in, rather than what they think people want to hear.

‘People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

‘If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.’

Comments (147)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now