Brown: We know what the future means under a Conservative government

Brown: My duty to fight the Tories

Brown: My duty to fight the Tories

By Ian Dunt

Gordon Brown is refusing to let disappointing instant poll reaction to yesterday’s debate slow down his campaign today.

The prime minister began his day in Birmingham where he told 100 students of his duty to fight the Conservatives.

“We know what the future means under a Conservative government and we have a duty to point out to be people what the threat will be,” he said.

Peter Mandelson, who attended the event with Mr Brown and deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, called Mr Brown’s performance last night “barnstorming”.

“I’ve seen many election campaigns,” the business secretary said.

“But never has the agenda of the last seven days of a campaign been so clear. And we owe that to last night’s debate.

“Gordon’s was a barnstorming performance. And the choice facing the country now couldn’t be clearer.”

But instant polls put the Labour leader in third place, well behind both Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown, leading many commentators to conclude the public have already written the PM off.

The prime minister was latyer joined by Olympic potentials at Loughborough University to launch Labour’s sports manifesto.