GORDON Brown was ridiculed yesterday after accidentally saying public spending under Labour would include a "zero per cent" rise.
The Commons burst into laughter when Mr Brown, questioned by Tory leader David Cameron at Prime Minister's questions, made the gaffe.
His spokesman was later forced to clarify that Mr Brown had meant to say that current spending would rise by 0.7
per cent on average between 2011-12 and 2013-14.
However, the incident served to highlight an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the leaders on how the country addresses the after-effects of the recession following the general election – with a combination of tax rises and spending cuts expected.
Mr Brown has sought to open clear ground between Labour and the Tories by saying his party would not cut spending – a claim seemingly undermined by his gaffe.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said both his rivals were indulging in a "bogus debate" by using misleading figures designed to deflect attention from their true plans.
In his budget in April, Chancellor Alistair Darling published precise spending figures that show capital spending – the money used for infrastructure projects – falling from next April, a fact Mr Brown finally admitted last week.
Yesterday Mr Cameron attempted to force the Prime Minister to admit that total spending – which includes cash spent on day-to-day items such as wages – would also fall under Labour.
The row was sparked last month when Andrew Lansley, the Tory shadow health secretary, said most Whitehall departments faced a 10 per cent cut on the basis of official figures – which Labour described as "Tory cuts".
Mr Cameron yesterday accused the Mr Brown of being in "full retreat" on spending and said he was guilty of "deceit" when he said the Tories were proposing 10 per cent cuts.
The Prime Minister said capital spending would fall after 2011 because cash had been brought forward in an attempt to spend the country out of recession.
"The debate about public spending is about how we return to growth and jobs in the economy," he said. "The reason we have advanced spending to 2009-10 is so that we can spend to get out of recession."
Mr Brown also appeared to rule out holding a comprehensive spending review – a process which sets spending limits for a three-year period – by saying it would be "wrong" to have one "in the midst of a recession" and it was impossible to predict future unemployment and economic growth.
Last night, Mr Brown denied misleading the country. "I have always told the truth and I've always told people as it is," he told the BBC. He said it was "completely untrue" of shadow chancellor George Osborne to allege the Tories were being barred from obtaining government spending figures to allow them to prepare for government.
