MP Terry Lewis has launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair accusing him of "arrogance" and being "plain wrong."

The maverick left wing MP for Worsley was infuriated by Mr Blair's speech in Milan calling for Europe to adopt the American culture of free enterprise, de-regulation and a flexible labour market.

German finance minister Oskar Lafountaine promptly rejected Mr Blair's call and said the lesson to be learnt from America was that cutting interest rates and increasing public spending was the way forward.

Mr Lewis backed Mr Lafountaine and denounced Mr Blair.

He said: "He is just plain wrong. He is showing all the arrogance of the old Social Democratic Party.

"The US has at one end the most conspicuous consumption and a most profligate society and at the other end tens of millions of people living in third world poverty.

"I am not normally a fan of Mr Lafountaine but in this case I am much closer to him than I am to Mr Blair.

"In my experience of entrepreneurs, they only succeed when they have a cowed and compliant workforce.

"British workers currently wouldn't say boo to a goose.

"Despite the latest trade union legislation, our workforces are being exploited and when bosses talk about flexible labour market, they mean being able to exploit staff more."

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