Brown Brown says he can recover from British poll debacle

LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced confidence on Sunday that his Labour Party would recover from its worst local election defeat in 40 years and rejected suggestions he should resign.
As commentators warned that last week’s poll rout could spell the end for the Labour government at national elections due by 2010, he admitted mistakes but said the global economic slowdown was largely to blame for his party’s performance.
Starting his post-election fightback with an interview on BBC television, he said: “Of course we can recover from this position and I will tell you how.
“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.
“The test of the leadership is how you deal with adversity,” Brown said.
He said Labour was putting “big building blocks” in place for the future, such as giving working families a fair deal and helping people buy their first home.
He said he was looking forward to taking the fight to the main opposition Conservative Party, who were the big winners in the elections in England and Wales, capped by the victory of the eccentric Boris Johnson in the London mayor race.
The local elections had amounted to a “referendum on Labour”, but when the country was faced with a general election and a clear choice between the Conservatives and Labour “it will be very clear that Labour is the party on the side of hard-working families,” Brown said.
He added: “If we are the underdog, we are certainly fighting and we are fighting hard.”
Asked if he would stand down less than a year since taking over from Tony Blair, Brown said: “I think it is time to get on with the job.
“I’m resolute and determined and I’ve got conviction and ideas and I’m not going to be put off by a few days’ headlines from the job that I’m determined to do for this country.”
He compared his predicament to Senator John McCain, who was written off in the US presidential election race last year but recovered to clinch the Republican Party nomination.
Brown conceded that rumours last year about him calling a snap general election before he decided against holding a vote had been damaging.
“I let speculation on the general election go on for too long and perhaps I spent too little time on getting our message across,” he said, adding he would now spend more time travelling the country to meet voters.
Responding to suggestions he came across as a distant person who played badly with the electorate, Brown said: “I think it’s true that I am a more private person in a public arena.
“Perhaps I have spent too much time... looking at the detail to solving people’s problems.
“But to solve people’s problems you have got to understand their problems.
“I come from a pretty ordinary background, we as a family felt the pinch when things were wrong, we as a family felt under pressure when the economy was going through difficult times.
“I understand what people are thinking and I understand what people are feeling and I believe that I’m the right person to take the country through these difficult times.”
The prime minister insisted he would not re-introduce the 10-pence tax rate, the scrapping of which has been pinpointed by senior Labour figures as a mistake.
Instead, the government would introduce measures to help low-income families and people aged 60 to 64, he said.
And he said he would press ahead with his plan to extend the period of detention without charge for terror suspects to 42 days -- a move which is likely to lead to another clash with Labour backbenchers.
“It’s the right thing for the country,” he said.