Spin row over Labour claims 'we've never had it so good'

Labour is embroiled in another row over spin after a minister claimed the Government had "slain the demons" confronting Britain and was in a better position than ever before to "meet the challenges of the modern world".

Labour is embroiled in another row over spin after a minister claimed the Government had "slain the demons" confronting Britain and was in a better position than ever before to "meet the challenges of the modern world".

David Miliband, the Cabinet Office minister, launched a report yesterday which he said showed "outstanding" reductions in NHS waiting lists, "dramatic" falls in crime and "massive" improvements in employment.

Ministers decided to publish the report by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit after The Independent requested to see it under the Freedom of Information Act. The report said that although Britain had "made considerable and sustained progress in key areas" there were "long running and structural" challenges for the Government including "the comparatively high proportion of adults lacking basic and/or intermediate skills".

But at a press conference Mr Miliband claimed it demonstrated "how far we've come" since taking office.

"People are recognising that we are poised to make some quite big gains that some of those demons that confronted the Government in 1997 - demons of mass unemployment, demons of people being paid £1.50 an hour, demons of people waiting on trolleys in hospitals - these demons have been slain," he said.

The Tories reacted angrily, accusing the Government of spin. Chris Grayling, a Conservative health spokesman, said: "This is yet another example of the Government painting a picture that bears absolutely no relation to the experience of people in the health service."

Oliver Letwin, the shadow Chancellor, said: "Never had it so good? What about Labour's 66 tax rises? What about the million violent crimes last year, or the two million pensioners below the poverty line? What about the 250,000 failed asylum-seekers living in Britain who shouldn't be here?

"If this is the Government's definition of never having had it so good, it shows just how much Mr Blair has lost touch with the British people."

The Strategic Audit of Life in Britain found increased prosperity, with the most deprived areas seeing a big improvement in health, education, employment and some types of crime. But, the report said, there were still worrying numbers of workless households. It also found that public "trust in government to put national interest over party interest" was declining.

The Government was also accused of manipulating the Freedom of Information Act in its own interests. Norman Lamb, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: "The way this report has been released smacks of the arrogant manipulation of news by the Government."