MANCHESTER: Britain's opposition leader Ed Miliband was on Monday launching the election manifesto he hopes will send him into Downing Street next month, focusing on boosting his party's reputation on the economy.
Miliband's centre-left Labour party has been at level pegging with Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives in opinion polls for months and both parties are desperate to break into a lead as the clock ticks down to May 7.
Labour's record on the economy while in government between 1997 and 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has frequently been attacked by the Conservatives, who blame the party for running up a budget deficit which stands at some £90 billion (124 billion euros, $130 billion).
Launching the manifesto in Manchester, northwest England, Miliband will promise to cut the deficit every year until it is eradicated and give details of how each manifesto pledge will be paid for.
Labour says its plans for reducing the debt would hurt ordinary, middle-income families less than those announced by Cameron's Conservatives, in power as senior partners in a coalition government since 2010.
"This is a manifesto which shows Labour is not only the party of change but the party of responsibility too," Miliband will say, according to pre-released extracts of his speech.
But Labour is already facing criticism from other parties for saying only it will remove the deficit "as soon as possible" and not giving an exact timeline.
"Ed Miliband and Ed Balls are intent on playing Russian roulette with Britain's economy," said Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, junior partners in the coalition government.
"The fact is, Labour want a return to reckless and excessive borrowing."
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