SHADOW Chancellor George Osborne has accused Gordon Brown of having "no clue what his vision is and no clue about how to run the country".

In an astonishing attack ahead of local elections on May 1, Mr Osborne piled the pressure on a prime minister he claimed was "on the slide".

And the shadow chancellor and Tatton MP warned Labour they were "riding for a fall" if they took former heartlands like Manchester for granted.

"Gordon Brown is already on the slide because he's not listening to people," said Mr Osborne. "No one even elected him as prime minister, and through a series of mistakes and dithering he has lost the trust and confidence of the British people to do the job.

"Whatever the results are on May 1 - and people should also vote on local issues - he is in real trouble."

Mr Osborne said Mr Brown was a man who had wanted to be Prime Minister "since he was 10", but had lost his way in a political fight for survival.

"He has no clue what his vision is and no clue about how to run the country," said Mr Osborne, the Tatton MP. "No one doubts he came into politics with good motives and things he believed in. But they are lost in the day-to-day calculations he makes in how to eke out a political advantage.

"He is so focused on his own survival instinct he has lost his way."

Mr Osborne had earlier been campaigning in Whalley Range with the Conservative's only Manchester MP, Lib Dem defector Faraz Bhatti.

The shadow chancellor cautioned Labour against assuming the Tories were not a credible threat in the inner cities.

"If Labour treat themselves as the natural party of anywhere they are riding for a fall," he said. "They are treating the public like fools and taking Manchester for granted.

"They are not actually out there listing to people. They are not seeing it through the eyes of voters.

"That is an opportunity for the Conservatives to speak for these people."

Mr Osborne said both plans for a local congestion charge and the row over the scrapping of the 10p income tax band showed Labour had lost touch with inner city residents.

"The government should not be bullying local government in Manchester to have a congestion charge," he said. "People in Manchester have paid their taxes and should not have to endure having to have a congestion charge to get investment in local transport."

The candidates in Whalley Range ward are: Mary Candeland (Green), John Grant (Liberal Democrats), Fawad Hussain (Conservative), and Amina Lone (Labour).

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