Brown is determined to make the right 'long-term' decisions

Apr 16 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE Prime Minister says he “recognises” the financial difficulties facing families today as fears grew over the perilous state of Britain’s economy.

But the Prime Minister said he was determined to make the right “long-term” decisions for the country rather than those which brought short-term popularity.

Mr Brown’s comments came after he held talks with bankers in Downing Street over how to minimise fallout from the global credit crunch.

He met bosses from Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland during a 90-minute summit at Downing Street.

Mr Brown has insisted keeping the economy on track was his “sole focus”. Number 10 said the talks were not a crisis summit and had been in the Prime Minister’s diary for some time.

During the meeting, Mr Brown was expected to urge the bank chief executives to pass on the Bank of England’s interest rate cut from 5.25% to 5% to borrowers.

Mr Brown said: “What people would not thank me for is taking the wrong long-term decisions. The right long-term decisions are to keep inflation low and keep interest rates low.” There was slightly better news for Mr Brown when inflation figures showed the official rate held steady at 2.5% last month – rather than rising as many had expected.

However, David Cameron launched a searing attack on the Prime Minister for being “arrogant” and “out of touch”. The Tory leader said the Government had wasted money “on a gargantuan scale” in the past decade, when it should have been preparing for leaner times.

Mr Brown said the Government would do everything in its power to help ordinary people. “I’m not complacent and I will always be vigilant,” he said. “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.

“What can we do to help people who are worried about the impact of what is a global credit crunch that people understand started in America and is impacting on Britain. And we will do everything in our power to make sure we’re on the side of ordinary hard-working families who need a Government on their side, that we will take the action necessary.”

Asked about grumblings within the Labour ranks about his leadership, the Prime Minister said: “I’m a person who has set the Labour Party on a course of making the long-term decisions for the future of our country.

“Of course, when we have an economic downturn affecting Britain, people will immediately start asking what more the Government could have done. I think we now are taking the actions that are necessary, we are looking at further measures to help people in this difficult situation.

“And I’ve been through these economic difficulties before and I think eventually people do see you are trying to do the right things by them.”

Asked about his future as Premier, Mr Brown added: “I’m starting a job that I mean to continue.”

Speaking ahead of his visit to the US this week, the Prime Minister said the so-called special relationship would outlive President Bush’s tenure in the White House.

“The co-operation between our two countries arises not just because we work together on specific issues, but because we share the same values,” he said.