A "thread of dishonesty" runs through Brown's Premiership

In his regular press conference, David Cameron attacked Gordon Brown for not being straight with people about Labour’s public spending plans.

He accused the Prime Minister of showing “a lack of respect" for the British public by claiming Labour are going to increase spending on public services when their own figures show it will fall.

David said there was “a thread of dishonesty running through (Gordon Brown's) Premiership” - and warned:

"For all their talk of a fresh start, of openness, and of transparency, of a genuine dialogue between government and people, Labour just cannot relinquish the comfort blanket of spin and deception."

David stressed that he and George Osborne have been honest about the need to sort out Britain's public finances – and he made clear:

“The cupboard is bare; tough decisions must be made; cuts cannot be avoided - whoever wins the next election.”

David also discussed the issue of MPs’ second jobs. He said that from the end of December the Shadow Cabinet will give up their outside interests – but he stressed that these interests can be “a good thing” as they bring additional expertise and experience to the House of Commons.

"Of course it is possible to have outside interests and be a good MP. As long as the public have all the information - and they should - they can judge in each case."

To this end, David announced that he was publishing information about the Shadow Cabinet's current outside interests.