Labour is 'living in the past' on economy, Mandelson claims in attack on Ed Balls Former Business Secretary accuses Ed Balls of making 'tiring' and 'predictable' attacks on coalition Urges Labour to set out alternative economic vision Mocks Gordon Brown's claim to have brought economic stability Lord Mandelson last night took a swipe at Gordon Brown's record as Chancellor as he accused Ed Balls of living in the past. The former Labour Business Secretary ridiculed Mr Browns" infamous claim to have abolished boom and bust, joking: "Well, we abolished boom!" And he tore into the current Labour leadership's attacks on the coalition, accusing Mr Balls, the shadow chancellor, of boring the public with out-dated arguments about the pace of spending cuts. Former Labour Business Secretary Lord Mandelson warned that two years before the general election Ed Balls had to stop 'predictable party political stuff' and provide an alternative economic vision Pressure is mounting on Ed Miliband and his frontbench team to persuade voters that Labour can ever be trusted with the economy again. Polls conducted after the Budget this week suggested almost a third of people most trusted the Tories to handle the UK's economic situation compared to just a quarter for Labour. There is growing speculation that former Chancellor Alistair Darling could return to frontline politics to get a grip on the Labour's economic policy, which he has hinted at. Lord Mandelson aired his frustration at Labour's failure to update its economic approach in a speech to the CBI London dinner last night. He directly criticised Mr Balls" decision to focus on the pace and depth of spending cuts, the Financial Times reported. Job swap? Former chancellor Alistair Darling is being tipped as a replacement for shadow chancellor Ed Balls, after Lord Mandelson criticised his 'predictable' and 'tiring' performances at the despatch box Lord Mandelson said: "The whole argument about whether we're cutting too far and too fast, it's in the past. It is rather predictable party political stuff from over the dispatch box, and it is a bit tiring to the public. We need to focus on how to redevelop our economy rather than fight about the past and fight about what's too far and what's far enough. The Labour party has got to offer more than that. He added that Labour had to deliver a more optimistic vision of how the economy would look once the nation's finances are under control. He said "If the Labour party is going to go into the next election and fight it on social justice rather than economic transformation and prosperity, it will be limited in its appeal." And he pointedly accused the governments of Tony Blair and Mr Brown, which he served in, of overplaying "its claims to have transformed the economy and to have put growth on an enduring upward trend," London Loves Business reported. In a direct swipe at Mr Brown, Lord Mandelson added: "I can't quite remember which member of the government it was who claimed to have abolished boom and bust. Well, we abolished boom! Old chums: Lord Mandelson stunned Westminster when he agreed to join the Cabinet of his old foe Gordon Brown in 2008, but last night mocked Mr Brown's boast to have ended boom and bust The prospect of a return to Labour's economic brief for Mr Darling has re-emerged this week. Asked about the idea, Mr Darling told Sky News: "You don't come through all this and then simply walk away and then say "well, you know, that's it."" He added: "No one likes being out of office, no one likes being away from being able to influence things and try and make things better, but that's where we are. All I can do now is to try and persuade people there is actually a better way of doing things. The Tories seized on the disarray in Labour's ranks. Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke said: "Even Labour's former Business Secretary - a man who knows how to win elections - thinks Ed Balls is living in "the past." Labour have opposed every single saving this Government is making to deal with the deficit, and are simply offering more of the same spending, borrowing and debt that got us into this mess in the first place.