First the governments of the major economies rejected this approach.

Last week, the independent experts at the OECD warned of the risks of this plan.

And now we see over 70 prominent economists publishing a letter in the Times warning that David Cameron's rapid cuts would risk putting Britain back into recession.

Among the academics who have signed the letter are economists Lord Layard, Lord Skidelsky, Lord Peston and Sir David Hendry. The letter says:

"As expected, a key election issue concerns how much to cut government expenditure.

"The main opposition party now proposes to cut an extra £6 billion, on top of the measures already planned by the government. The cut is described as efficiency savings. But in macroeconomic terms it is just a cut by another name."

"It will lead directly to job losses and indirectly to further falls in spending...At a time when recovery is delicate it could even affect confidence to the degree that we are tipped back into recession - with much larger job consequences.

"This is not a time for such a destabilising action. The recovery is still fragile."

Economic judgement, not political tactics, is critical in the current climate. The decisions we take in the coming months will affect the prosperity of families and firms for years to come.

Now that we are on the road to recovery, it is vital we stay the course. The Tories have been wrong on the recession, they are wrong on the recovery and they are a risk we cannot afford.