blair blasts tory spending plans tony blair has launched an attack on conservative spending plans  saying they are a  ludicrous improbability .  the prime minister has told a labour party gathering that the tory policies would cause economic failure. tory leader michael howard has said his party would cut £35bn in  wasteful  spending to allow £4bn in tax cuts. on saturday  tory shadow home secretary david davis said the tories would fund the cuts by removing  inefficiencies  which had  burgeoned  under labour. in his speech  mr blair contrasted a reformed labour party  which had learned to occupy the political centre ground  with a hidebound tory party  which he said would turn the clock back with spending cuts. mr blair said:  the conservative tax and spending proposals would put at risk  both britain s hard-won economic stability - the lowest mortgages  inflation  unemployment  for decades - and the key investment in public services.   i believe that the tory plans are as plain a call to return to the past as it s possible to imagine   he said.  it s a recipe for exactly the same boom and bust economics and cuts in public services that were their hallmark in 18 years of conservative government.  mr blair added:  they  the conservatives have learned nothing.  by contrast  he said  new labour had listened to its electorate and changed.  mr blair went on to list his government s achievements and to issue a rallying call to the party.  so now we have a choice  we can defend this record and we can build on it and go on and fulfil the promise or give up and go back. and i say we have to fight.  in response  david davis said the tories would make cuts  such as removing regional assemblies  but would bring in more police officers and match labour s spending on health and education.  everybody knows  having lived through this government the last seven years  that they faced lots of stealth tactics  lots of increases in taxes  but no improvement in public services   he said. mr davis said labour had been responsible for  huge waste  huge overspending  not on the frontline at all but on bureaucracy .  the public face a choice between more waste and more taxes with this government  less waste and lower taxes with a tory government   he concluded.  gordon brown has addressed the conference behind closed doors. the chancellor said the conservatives  plans would see some £50bn in spending cuts by 2011  which the tories deny. mr brown also issued call for party unity and warn of the dangers of allowing themselves to be  distracted or diverted . according to an advance text released by officials  he told delegates:  we must all show the strength and unity of purpose to take the long-term decisions necessary to meet them.   mr brown warned that the tories were planning  the biggest cuts ever in the history of any election manifesto . meanwhile  tory shadow chancellor oliver letwin accused mr blair of  misrepresenting  the party s proposals and questioned how labour would fund its own plans.  he still cannot accept the simple truth  which is that we will spend more on what matters to people - schools  hospitals and police - and that we will offer value for money and lower taxes   mr letwin said.  once again mr blair and his chancellor have failed to answer the question that lies at the heart of this election - which taxes will they put up to fill the £8bn shortfall in their plans