David Cameron has called for 2009 to be "the year when change comes to Britain", arguing that the economic crisis will get worse the longer the Labour Government remains in power.
In a New Year message urging his party to offer hope to hard-pressed voters, the Conservative leader blasted Prime Minister Gordon Brown for calling on the British people to show the spirit of the Blitz and "rise to the challenge" of the downturn.
And he echoed the recent criticisms of a group of Church of England bishops by questioning the morality of the Government's decision to increase borrowing in the hope of stimulating the economy.
Ministers' "arrogance" has blinded them to the mistakes they have made and left them incapable of solving problems of "Labour's Debt Crisis", he said.
The coming year will offer voters with a "choice between the future and the past", as Labour returns to the "big government knows best" ideas of the 1970s, while Tories offer a "modern" vision based on a strong society led by a responsible government.
Accusing Mr Brown of presiding over an "age of irresponsibility", Mr Cameron said: "It has to end - and the sooner the better. The longer Labour are in, the worse it gets.
"So let's make sure we're ready for an election at any time, and let's do all we can to make sure that 2009 is the year when change comes to Britain too."
Mr Cameron said it was clear that Labour had been "in power too long" and had been "corrupted by power".
Borrowing one of Mr Brown's favourite phrases, he accused the Government of losing its "moral compass" in its decision to use borrowing to stimulate the economy.
Mr Cameron accused Labour of making the debt crisis worse by borrowing more money and wasting billions on "useless" schemes like Chancellor Alistair Darling's temporary cut in VAT.
