The bishops delivered their withering assessment of the center-left Labour Party's 11 years in office under Tony Blair and now Gordon Brown in interviews with The Sunday Telegraph.

The bishops of Manchester, Durham, Winchester, Carlisle and Hulme warned that Britain was suffering from an addiction to debt, family breakdown and a widening gap between rich and poor.

They accused ministers of pursuing scandalous policies and reneging on promises.

The attack came as Brown - the son of a Church of Scotland minister - prepared to tell the public in his New Year message that Britain would meet the enormous challenge of the financial crisis in 2009.

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The prime minister was expected to say that his plan to spend more money to tackle the looming recession was a much better option than not taking any action.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, said last week that Brown's plans were like an "addict returning to the drug."

Nigel McCulloch, the Bishop of Manchester, said the government was "beguiled by money" and had acted scandalously over the financial crisis by encouraging further debt.

"This is not just an economic issue, but a moral one," he said. "The government believes that money can answer all of the problems and has encouraged greed and a love of money that the Bible says is the root of all evil.

"It's morally corrupt because it encourages people to get into a lifestyle of believing they can always get what they want.

"We have the poor feeling they have been betrayed, and the gap is getting ever greater. Any government of integrity would have exercised restraint, but this has been sadly lacking."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE