Brown: Fightback against Tories begins now
Sunday, 04 May 2008 10:41
I am fighting and fighting hard, Gordon Brown insists
Gordon Brown has responded to Labour's worst local election results for 40 years by pledging to "take the fight" to the Conservatives.
Thursday's hammering at the polls by the Tories, which saw Labour pushed into third by the Liberal Democrats in terms of vote share, has seen the prime minister's position come under intense pressure.
But speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, Mr Brown said he was 'relishing' the chance to take his party, the government and the country forward.
Rumours of a potential leadership challenge were dismissed by the prime minister, who said the problems encountered by the government were being experienced by foreign counterparts across the world.
"Leadership is tested not by what happens at the best of times, but what happens when things are difficult," he said.
"We have not created these problems but we have to deal with these problems."
Labour's local election poll woes were compounded further at midnight on Friday when Boris Johnson ousted Ken Livingstone as mayor of London.
When asked of his opinion on the Tory MP as mayor, Mr Brown questioned his and his party's "substance".
The prime minister acknowledged David Cameron's party had a great appeal to voters because of their "slick salesmanship" but accused the party of "walking away from the problems", whereas he and the government took the "difficult decisions"
"The reason I'm optimistic about the future of Britain is that if we make all these right decisions then Britain will be better prepared to make its way in this world," he continued.
Mr Brown went on to accuse the Tories' policies of leaving people "defenceless" and asked the electorate to examine whether they had "really changed".
"Every time they are tested it looks as if there is a tension between what they want to say to the electorate and what they really believe," he added.
Mr Brown also championed the government's economic plan to take Britain "out of the downturn and into the upturn", confirming announcements would be made in the coming weeks to help the property and small business markets.
"I am the best person to take the country through these difficult times," the prime minister concluded.