Labour can recover, says Brown

The prime minister has insisted Labour can recover from the heavy losses it sustained at the local elections.

Gordon Brown told BBC1's Andrew Marr show he did not expect a challenge for his leadership, despite his party's share of the vote falling to 24 per cent, its worst for 40 years.

"Of course we can recover from this position and I will tell you how," he said.

"First of all by sorting out the immediate problem with the economy and showing people we can come through, as we have in the past, very difficult economic times.

"Secondly by showing people we have a vision of the future that will carry the country - optimistically in my view - into its next phase.

"That is all about chances, opportunities, a fair deal for working families, helping people get onto the first rung of the housing ladder, helping people get opportunity in education - more universities and more colleges - the big building block for the future that we are putting in place."

He went on to say it was vital for the government to show voters it understood concerns about rising prices.

Acknowledging that people were worried about their standard of living, he said: "I feel the hurt they feel."

Brown admitted he had made mistakes over the abolition of the 10p income tax rate, and in allowing speculation about a snap election last year continue for too long.

Asked if the elections meant his party was now the underdog of British politics, he said: "If we are the underdog, we are certainly fighting and we are fighting hard.

"We are standing up for people facing difficulties, standing up for what I believe - and what I believe is that opportunity for every citizen in this country should be greater than it is at the moment - standing up against a Conservative Party that looks like slick salesmen but actually doesn't have the answers to the real challenges this country is facing."

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