LIVERPOOL is in danger of returning to the “years of Tory neglect”, Wallasey MP Angela Eagle warned in her conference speech.

Ms Eagle, who is Ed Balls’ deputy in Labour’s treasury team, told delegates the city had been “revitalised” since the dark days of the 1980s, but added: “I worry that those days are returning.”

The shadow chief secretary also urged her party to exploit the financial crash to shape a better future, saying: “We have to be bold and we have to be radical.

“That means tackling the new inequality between those at the top and everyone else. It means taking on the powerful interests holding Britain back.”

Ms Eagle also poured scorn on Government claims that Labour’s spending blitz led to the recession, saying: “This crisis wasn’t caused by Labour investing in schools and hospitals. It wasn’t caused by Labour deciding to regenerate cities like Liverpool either.

“It was caused by greed in the banking industry and a global failure to rein in the excesses.”

Ms Eagle spoke about her first visit to the Echo Arena, across the Mersey from Wallasey.

Ms Eagle said: “The first time I came to this great new place I was down there in the front row and one of my heroines, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, was up here performing.”