Gordon Brown last night brushed aside talk of a swift end to his premiership as he made clear that he was ready to risk unpopularity in guiding the British economy through the current financial storm.
Gordon Brown last night brushed aside talk of a swift end to his premiership as he made clear that he was ready to risk unpopularity in guiding the British economy through the current financial storm.
With discontent still seething within Labour ranks over the abolition of the 10p tax rate - the latest critic being Rhodri Morgan, Wales's First Minister - the Prime Minister was asked directly about his future. "I'm starting a job that I mean to continue," he answered.
As Mr Brown prepared to begin a four-day visit to the US, he repeated the UK Government's mantra of being "on the side of ordinary hard-working families".
He declared: "I'm not complacent and I will always be vigilant. I wake up in the morning, thinking what can we do to help homeowners, to help those people who have got small businesses, people looking for jobs, people wanting opportunities so they can have better jobs for the future."
Earlier, Mr Brown held talks in Downing Street with leading bankers on how best to deal with the effects of the credit crunch.
Next week, Chancellor Alistair Darling is due to meet the UK's top mortgage lenders with hints the Westminster Government will help improve market liquidity in return for them guaranteeing to pass on future Bank of England interest rate cuts to homeowners.
As the lenders snapped up another £15bn pumped into the financial system yesterday by the Bank - taking its total injection over recent months to more than £50bn - the prospect of another cut in interest rates grew as inflation steadied at 2.5%, defying City expectations of a rise futher still above the 2% target.
As Mr Brown prepared to fly out last night, David Cameron launched a withering attack, accusing him of being "out of touch" and "arrogant".
The Conservative leader said that the UK Government had wasted money "on a gargantuan scale" in the past decade when it should have been preparing for leaner times.
At Westminster, a poll of 100 political movers and shakers by the Politics Home website showed nine out of 10 believed Mr Brown had become an "electoral liability" but that Labour was unlikely to dump him.
Unease continued to be expressed by Labour figures with Mr Morgan surfacing as the latest critic of the 10p tax rate abolition, saying he was "not keen" on it, adding: "I don't think it was good for Wales to have the 10p tax band withdrawn."
Earlier, Brian Wilson, a former Energy Minister, decried the policy as "perverse" and suggested Mr Brown had fallen victim to his view that after 15 years voters became weary of senior politicians.
Last night, the SNP seized on his comments, saying they emphasised the "festering frustration within the Labour Party over Gordon Brown's unpopularity and failure to deliver".
There were also reports suggesting that the party's own financial situation was less than rosy.
The reports claim that Labour chiefs, seeing party accounts almost £20m in the red, have been able to renegotiate the terms of loan repayments from key benefactors and extend them to nine years to ease financial difficulties.
Westminster return for Blair
TONY Blair will next month make his first formal appearance at Westminster since handing over the reins to Gordon Brown last summer.
The former prime minister is to give evidence to the Commons International Development Committee in his role as the Quartet's special envoy to the Middle East as MPs undertake a follow-up inquiry into their earlier report on the Occupied Territories. Last night, Malcolm Bruce, the committee chairman, told The Herald that Mr Blair's office had confirmed his appearance at the Commons on Thursday May 8.
Mr Blair, 54, became the Middle East envoy working on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU last June.
