British prime minister Gordon Brown today insisted Britain’s economic future was safer with a Labour government that had strong links with Europe.
During a visit to an Airbus manufacturing plant in Filton, Bristol, the prime minister said he believed Conservative Party policy on Europe posed to a risk to industry.
“We must invest for the future and we must do it by working with our European partners and not isolate ourselves from the European Union,” he told workers at the Airbus plant.
“You will not see me cutting investment in our education and schools, it is absolutely vital for the future,” he said.
“You will not see me cutting investment and numbers in our police forces because we need to support safe communities in our country."
Speaking just hours before a second televised debate between the three main party leaders, Mr Brown said he planned to "say what I want to say and what I think needs to be said" tonight.
“I plan to focus on what I think are the big challenges for the country and show that I’ve got the answers," he said. “Not everybody will want to see it that way but I want to talk about the substantive issues.”
Mr Brown said he was fighting for a majority Labour government, not a coalition.
Liberal Democrats' leader Nick Clegg earlier criticised what he called "ludicrous" warnings by Conservatives of market turmoil if the upcoming election returns a hung parliament.
Mr Clegg took issue with Conservative warnings that an inconclusive election result would damage Britain's recovery and force the country to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Ludicrous threats are being made by David Cameron and his team about market and political turmoil if people don't vote Conservative," he wrote in today's edition of the Guardian.
"It won't work because people don't want to be told to fall into line by Cameron. People have sensed that there is a greater choice, greater freedom, this time they won't be bullied back into the politics of the past."
The Tory warning came on the eve of tonight’s Sky TV leaders’ debate between Mr Brown, Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg.
Support for the Liberal Democrats has jumped 10 points since their leader Mr Clegg outshone his better-known rivals in the first live televised debate last week.
The surge in support for the perennial third party has raised the chances of a coalition government and left both Labour and the Conservatives grappling for ways to counter the "Clegg effect" ahead of the second live TV debate this evening.
Additional reporting: PA