Party leaders on UK tour
Wednesday, 7 January 2009 11:12 AM
By Laura Miller
Gordon Brown and David Cameron have both begun tours of recession-struck Britain in a move unheard of outside election season.
Both men are using the trips to unveil competing proposals in a bid to convince the public they have the answer to the economic crisis.
"I can't honestly think of another prime minister who has done this outside of an election period," said one Downing Street aide.
Brown's extensive tour of meet-and-greets will start in the east Midlands today before a Cabinet meeting in Liverpool on Thursday in front of 200 representative members of the public. The PM will then set off for the north-west and West Midlands. The trip ends on Friday in south Wales.
The government is keen to portray the unusual schedule of visits as part of an overall package to help reassure the public during the downturn.
Junior government minister Ivan Lewis said: "This is the first time that a government is saying there is something they can do about a recession. When times are hard people want government who are on their side, not standing to one side."
Opposition MPs suspect that the trip is more of an attempt to drum home policy and "warm up" Labour heartlands in advance of a general election.
Mr Cameron has also embarked on a series of speeches at events across the country revealing the Conservative party's economic alternatives to Brown's plans.
The proposals were described by shadow chancellor George Osborne on BBC 2's Newsnight programme as only "suggestions that the Conservatives hope Gordon Brown will seriously consider".
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