Ken Clarke, the shadow business secretary, has warned his party that the Conservatives are on course to inherit a worse economic outlook than any incoming Tory government since the war.
In a hard-hitting speech to delegates in Manchester, he described the economy as a “mess,” with the public finances in a “far worse” state than those left by any previous Labour government, including that which gave way to Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
He said: “It is the realist in me that says we are set to take over the biggest mess that a Conservative Party has ever inherited from a Labour government.
“It is amazingly true that Labour always winds up leaving behind an economic disaster. It has happened every time since the war.
"But this is far, far worse. It’s worse even than Margaret was confronted with in 1979. So yet again it is our duty to repair the damage after those years of recklessness, and prepare the UK for a better future.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6266331/Ken-Clarke-David-Cameron-will-inherit-worse-economic-mess-than-Thatcher.html