The Conservative leader branded the Prime Minister reckless with money as the party prepared to unveil its economic rescue plan. Opening the party conference in Birmingham, the Tory leader took a swipe at Gordon Brown and his bid to cast himself as the champion of economic competence.

"Who was it who said that he, and he alone, had rewritten the laws of economics to end boom and bust?" he told delegates. "The answer is our Prime Minister, the then chancellor, Gordon Brown. And my message to Gordon Brown is this: You have had your boom, and your reputation is now bust."

In a nod to the cautious economic climate, the Conservative leader cancelled the screening of a video which was meant to showcase the Tory Party's achievements over the last year. Mr Cameron is desperate to avoid accusations of hubris or taking voters for granted. In an interview, he said that the Tories may not have "sealed the deal" yet with the public.

Mr Cameron is also keen to reposition the party as a credible force to take charge of the economy.

A BPIX poll published yesterday gave Mr Brown and Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, a one per cent lead over Mr Cameron and George Osborne as the better-regarded team to deal with the current crisis in the markets.

"Let us show them that this is the end for the big spending, big taxing, recklessly borrowing, big, bossy, interfering government that promises so much and delivers so little," he said. "We have a plan for change, so let's show them that we can be that change."

Mr Cameron also insisted there should be no blank cheques to nationalise cash-strapped banks, as he signalled Conservative concerns over the bail-out of Bradford & Bingley.

The Tory Party would instead prefer more powers to be given to the Bank of England to take over ailing institutions before turning them round to sell on to private investors.

The Conservatives will step up the verbal assault today on the government's economic record, with Mr Osborne calling time on what he called "Gordon Brown's age of irresponsibility".

A plan to ride out the worst of the financial turbulence will also be published in a policy document today.

Measures include an office for budget responsibility, which would have the power to audit the nation's debts, including liabilities such as PFI projects, which are not currently counted on the government's books.

The Bank of England would also be given stronger powers to look out for debt, writing a regular letter to the Financial Services Authority on the extent of risk in the market.

Earlier, Mr Cameron said he and the shadow chancellor had been "vindicated" by not offering up-front tax cuts. To make such a promise would have been irresponsible, the Conservative leader said.

But there was embarrassment for the Tories yesterday when it emerged that the party had accepted almost £2 million from hedge-fund managers who took bets on banks such as HBOS, which was forced into an emergency rescue by Lloyds TSB.

Both Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne have declined to condemn short-selling.

REBEL OF THE DAY

Boris Johnson

The London mayor junked the party's financial straightjacket to offer Londoners a freeze in the council tax they pay to City Hall, and praised Labour MP Kate Hoey, who acts as his sports envoy.

GLUMMEST FACE

Theresa Villiers

The shadow transport secretary looked nervous when appearing on stage alongside fellow shadow cabinet members. She is frequently earmarked as being first for the chop in a Cameron reshuffle.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

He presumably thought trying to be Tarzan meant walking around with a banana

William Hague mocks David Miliband's so-called 'Heseltine moment' at last week's Labour Party conference

BIGGEST SMILE

Journalists in the media suite

They were handed endless freebies – topped by several varieties of Dairy Milk and a box of Heroes chocolates, courtesy of a small local business known as Cadbury.

BEST BIT OF GOSSIP

BORIS Johnson was an even bigger draw than his party leader on the opening day, with the hall packed well before the blond bombshell took to the stage.

And in characteristic style, his joking ruffled a few feathers.

Last week Labour attracted controversy by showing a film in which US presidential candidate Barack Obama praised Gordon Brown. For the Tories, they have been making great play of being even-handed with Democrat Mr Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.

Then along comes Boris to describe another prominent Republican, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as a "monosyllabic Austrian cyborg".