A catastrophic error by Gordon Brown triggered the fuel blockades that brought Britain to a standstill last year the

A "catastrophic error" by Gordon Brown triggered the fuel blockades that brought Britain to a standstill last year, the former chancellor Kenneth Clarke said yesterday. Mr Clarke told MPs that Mr Brown had driven up levels of petrol duty until the protest forced a panic cut. Speaking during the second day of debate on the Finance Bill, he said: "People looking back on this particular feature of the Government's policy will think it was quite bizarre. They just sat there and waited until lorry drivers, eventually and predictably, took to the streets."The Treasury had been lucky that its higher taxes had been masked by a fall in crude oil prices but they were soon revealed when prices rose again to normal levels, he said. The former minister was speaking as the Government was urged to extend the cuts in fuel duty announced in the Budget in March.Mr Clarke said that he agreed with critics who said the Chancellor had become complacent about Britain's economic position.He said: "The Chancellor has at last realised that he has not abolished the economic cycle. He taxed too much when he did not need to, on business and savings and pensions."He savagely restrained public spending for the first two years and now he's promising massive increases for the next three years, unrivalled since the days of Mr Heath's government, which he thinks can be sustained by continued growth. All this might be changing."James Clappison, the Conservative Treasury spokesman, said Mr Brown had made a "humiliating change of spin" by admitting the economy faced a period of instability. The Tories were committed to cutting the duty on fuel by at least 3p a litre, he insisted."We want to offer some relief to the hard-working families who have to pay too much to the Government every time they fill their tank, something they will remember in the future Under this Government, motorists have taken a clobbering.

Mondeo Man now pays £10 more than he did before this Government came to power.". Whitehall is wasting more than £60m a year in awarding contracts to management consultants, a report by the National Audit Office says today. The office urges Government departments to compare prices and to make savings by joining forces. Whitehall is wasting more than £60m a year in awarding contracts to management consultants, a report by the National Audit Office says today.

The office urges Government departments to compare prices and to make savings by joining forces. A survey by the NAO found that Whitehall's £600m bill for consultants could be trimmed by at least 10 per cent. It says the money saved could be used to boost spending on public services or to obtain higher standards of service from suppliers.The NAO says that "more astute negotiations with suppliers" ­ including shopping around for better quotes and scrutinising contractors' performances ­ could result in savings of £45m. Another £12m could be saved through the increased use of competitive tendering.The NAO criticises departments for making too much use of single and informal tendering to place orders, in an effort to save time and stick with existing contractors. Only two-thirds of contracts were open to competition, putting value for money at risk."Awarding work without competition makes it difficult for departments to compare suppliers' prices to ensure they get the best prices," it says. "The wide range of fees paid also suggests that there are opportunities for departments to get better deals from suppliers." The NAO also calculates that by negotiating more closely together, departments could achieve further savings of £3m for the taxpayer.The report focused on consultancy and advisory services in the areas of human resources, financial, legal and general management consultancy.Whitehall tends to contract out such tasks as payroll administration, recruitment advertising and designing and installing computer systems. Departments spent about £610m on these services in 1999-2000, with management consultancy (£231m) accounting for the largest proportion.Presenting the report to Parliament, Sir John Bourn, the head of the NAO, said: "A significant amount of taxpayers' money is spent on these services each year."We have found excellent examples of innovative practice, but much more could be done to improve government purchasing. Implementing the changes we propose would free up at least £60m a year for spending on public services.".