The Conservatives last night called for a rebalancing of the UK economy, saying for too long it had been over-reliant on financial services and too focused on the south-east of England.

The declaration came as David Cameron and his frontbench team took part in 13 countrywide business forums under the slogan of Get Britain Working - just 24 hours before Gordon Brown sets off today on a three-day tour of England and Wales.

At a forum in Cardiff, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said the dominance of the City of London had left Britain "very exposed" and promised that a future Conservative government would offer help to other sectors of the economy.

"We need to do more to rebalance this economy, make other industries more successful, make manufacturing more successful," he said.

"We are a very south-east England-based economy; too much so. We need to have those (regional) areas better connected with the south-east and not wholly dependent on what goes on in the Square Mile of London."

In Manchester, Mr Cameron told his audience that the role of fat cat City bankers had to be carefully examined. "We need to look at the behaviour of banks and financiers and work out what was irresponsible and if anything was criminal."

He noted how in America some financial chiefs were facing prosecution in the courts and that the UK should have the same approach.

Arguing that the Bank of England should be put back in charge of regulating credit and debt in the economy, the Tory leader said: "There is no one to call time on the level of debt in the economy. As well as good regulation we need a good regulator."

In one contribution from the audience, Mr Cameron was accused of being "on the wrong side of the argument" to the rest of the world as governments proposed huge increases in spending to stimulate their economies.

However, the Conservative leader said he agreed with the International Monetary Fund, among other banking organisations, in that fiscal stimulus was good only "if you could afford it".

Click here to comment on this story...