Last checked at 
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Partyhas promised to balance the government's books - excludinginvestment spending - within the next parliament if it wins nextyear's election.
Ed Balls, Labour's would-be finance minister, will make thepledge on Saturday, setting out a binding commitment to delivera surplus in the current budget and to get the national debtfalling. The next parliament is likely to last until 2020.
"With the deficit we inherit currently set to be nearly 80billion pounds ($132 billion) and the national debt stillrising, it will be up to the next Labour government to finishthe job," he will say, according to extracts of his speechreleased by his office on Friday.
"The next Labour government will balance the books anddeliver a surplus on the current budget and falling nationaldebt in the next parliament.
"So my message to my party and the country is this: wherethis government has failed, we will finish the job."
Labour leads the ruling Conservatives in opinion polls butthe public consistently says it trusts Prime Minister DavidCameron's Conservatives more on the economy, a verdict theleft-leaning party is struggling to reverse at a time wheneconomists are predicting Britain's economic recovery will pickup pace.
Cameron repeatedly reminds voters that the last 1997-2010Labour government left Britain with a budget deficit equivalentto 11 percent of gross domestic product, the country's biggestpeacetime deficit.
Labour says its plans were blown off course by the 2007/8global financial crisis and that it can deliver "irondiscipline" if re-elected.
"Without fiscal discipline and a credible commitment toeliminate the deficit, we cannot achieve the stability we need,"Balls will say.
"But without action to deliver investment-led growth andfairer choices about how to get the national debt down whileprotecting vital public services, then fiscal discipline cannotbe delivered by a Labour government - or, in my view, by anygovernment."
Balls' intention of tackling the deficit in the government'scurrent account - which includes spending on things such aswelfare and public services - is less aggressive than a plan byfinance minister George Osborne.
Osborne wants to wipe out the deficit in overall governmentspending, including investment spending.
Labour has made increased investment spending a core part ofits economics policies, vowing to build more homes andinfrastructure.
Balls will say that Labour would abolish the "discreditedidea" of rolling five-year fiscal targets and push for "toughfiscal rules" within 12 months of the election in May 2015.
He will also say that a Labour government would use theproceeds from the sale of the state's stakes in Lloyds and RBS banks to help repay the national debt.
