The former Chancellor has told Sky News that Labour must convince the public it has a credible plan to tackle Britain's economic woes. Skip related content
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Speaking on Jeff Randall Live, Alistair Darling MP said any changes to his economic strategy would have to satisfy not just the markets, but the British public.
"Look you've got this high level of borrowing," he said.
"You need to get it down, if you try and pretend there isn't a problem or it's one that can be put off forever and a day then people will say sorry that doesn't seem to make sense to me... and it will have disastrous results."
Mr Darling also revealed that he is to take a break from frontline politics after Labour's new leader failed to give the Shadow Chancellor's economic plans his full support.
In his leadership acceptance speech, Ed Miliband referred to the proposals, which would see the UK's debt halved over the next four years, a "starting point".
The comments came on the same day the International Monetary Fund said Coalition moves to fix the UK economy are working.
At the same time Mr Darling admitted Labour failed to get people on their side ahead of the May 2010 election.
"I think it was a combination of things. We were tired, we ran out of steam, we didn't have a clear sense of direction because we didn't have a clear set of policies, the whole thing came back to individuals and a leaders' contest."
His comments came just a day before Ed Miliband was due to deliver his keynote speech to Labour delegates in his new role as the party's leader.
New research has found that Britain is the worst place to live in Europe.
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