LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron kicked off his Conservative party's election campaign Friday with a new poster promising a road to a stronger economy, swiftly denounced as a road to hell by his coalition partners.
Indicating the tone of the Tories' message for the general election in May, the poster shows a computer-generated road heading into the distance through green fields, with the slogan Let's Stay on the Road to a Stronger Economy.
It lists the government's achievements since it came to power in 2010 and claims there are 1.75 million more people in work, 760,000 more businesses and the deficit (has been) halved.
Cameron has been criticised over the last claim, as the deficit has only been halved if measured as a percentage of GDP. In cash terms, it has been reduced by about a third.
Unveiling the poster, Cameron said the vote was the most important election in a generation, and insisted that only his centre-right party could deliver a stronger economy.
But the image, which will appear on billboards across Britain, was swiftly denounced as a road to hell by the Tories' junior coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.
Highlighting one independent assessment that Tory plans would take public spending to the lowest level in 80 years, a Lib Dem spokesman said The Conservative economic plan for the future looks more like the highway to hell for the majority of British voters.
Ed Balls, economic spokesman for the main opposition Labour party, said It's a road lurching to the right -- their plan is not working, yet they're saying let's carry on with our failed plan.
While Labour is slightly ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls, it is likely that neither party will be able to win a parliamentary majority.
If that is the case, they would need the support of a smaller party to govern in a coalition, as occurred in 2010 when the Lib Dems joined with the Conservatives.
But the coalition is breaking apart, Lib Dem support has collapsed and the rise of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) has shaken up British politics -- leaving the election wide open.
AFP
