It's no time for a wally either, so off you pop Mr Brown.

judy, Liverpool, England

brown is right - this is no time for a novice. So give up and call a general election!

Richard, Plymouth,

Brown did not have a clue in 1997 and still doesn't. Some one famous recently said something about 'pigs and lipstick' !

Andy, Lancashire

Andy Aitken, Lancaster,

“the rock of stability and fairness upon which people stand” during times of economic turmoil

More hauliers have gone to the wall thanks to Labours sit-back-and-do-nothing attitude towards the fuel price hikes.
As long as the treasury are raking it in they dont care who suffers.

Phill, The Wirral, England

What a buffoon putting his wife on the stand to puff for him. Is there anyone alive who is so shallow as to be influenced by such rubbish?

And as for his slogan of "no time for a novice", what about "no time for a proven incompetent".

In fact, "no time for a guy with no new ideas"

Mike, Dorchester,

Free prescriptions for cancer patients--- Wow that will save them a 12 month charge of just over £100 for a prepayment certificate. Cancer patients need access to new drugs as denied by N.I.C.E. I think Brown is back to his misleading tactics again.

Graham, Manchester, UK

This was really desperate stuff... predictably the 'intellectual giant' proved that he isn't. Who pays off their overdraft by writing cheques? This was a speech riddled with self-interest and self-defence.

Philip Hastings, Sherborne,

damn good speech, well done the old boy - particularly notable the pledge to equalize the state pension and the free prescriptions for cancer payments. something the tories would not seek to offer until the proverbial inferno has a white christmas

David, cardiff, wales

“The people of Britain would never forget if we failed to put them first,” he said.
Absolutely true! I can clearly remember not being able to vote in an EU referendum promised by Nu Labour.

John, London, UK

"No time for a novice" Probably correct. However, it's also no time for an incompetent PM.

Bill Peter, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

If Gordon Brown wants the "right" to lead us through this crisis, he should call a General Election and earn that right. Or maybe he was referring to David Cameron?

Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, UK

A rousing speech devoid of the words that leaders in democratic countries normally include: the electorate has given me a mandate....Also devoid of references to 10 years of raided pensions, removing incentives to save, no inroads the gap between rich and poor, etc etc Not one good idea in 10years!

J Knight, London, United Kingdom

"Gordon Brown told voters and his party it was “no time for a novice” today as he demanded the right to lead Britain through the economic crisis to the next election.

Unfortunately Gordon, "no time for a novice" rules you out too!

Time for him to go before he ruins the country forever!

Anthony Lester, Brum,

Better spin! He even sounded sincere. Maybe he's just useless? His offer;
Computers for hoodies so they can use facebook and access porn
Free prescriptions but you are denied NHS access if you are prepared to pay for lifesaving drugs
Still no utilities price enforcement
A lot of empty words!

R J Foley, Largs, Scotland

I have yet to get over the cheesey spin of using Sarah Brown to introduce 'her man'

I thought that Brown had only been a prime minister for 12 months, isn't that being a novice?

Chris Wigley, Handforth, UK

Browns speech made me squirm, it was so sugary, especially when he spoke about the NHS "saving 240,000 cancer patients lives". That really did make my teeth tingle it was a real cringe moment.

Most of it was less a speech and more a PR exercise with built in pauses for applause.

B Sherwin , Glan Conwy, Wales

How could you tell the difference?

John, calgary, Canada

He's right it isn't a time for a novice. But it's not a time for him either! No where has he said anything about reigning back on government expenditure to reduce the tax burden on those that still have jobs.

Chris, Derby,

The past ten years were based on an economy built on sand where wealth was mistaken for debt. It is Brown who robbed us of our pensions and fuelled the housing market thatno leaves many without the hope of house ownership. He constructed nothing, and robbed us of our future.

Sara, Deal, UK

Well we need a serious and intelligent prime minister to lead us through tough times. We don't need celebrities and cool guys who will dwindle under the tough situations Britain will face in the coming years such as China, Russia and the Economy. In this respect Gordon Brown is a good candidate.

Ram, Southampton, England

Brown is NOT in tune with the public! While he is talking about free childcare places, we the public, are talking about an austere future brought about by the credit crunch and the high level of borrowing brought about by Brown's spending spree! Brown has already taxed the UK to death!

Clive, Cambridge,

We did indeed have good times for ten years. Brown had the benefit of an excellent foundation laid by his predecessor as Chancellor and a 10 year a worldwide economic high but we will pay for has pensions grab etc for the next 20 years. Now promoted above his capability.

Paul Dickinson, Gosport, UK

Well done Mr Brown are you going to pinch anymore of John McCain's campaign.

Peter, Southampton, UK

So Gordon you were "stung" by the 10p fiasco !
Is that some strange kind of admission that you got it wrong?
Be a man and own up and maybe folk would think more of you.

Martin Briggs, Heversham, England

Novices? Well, experience as a Scottish Labour historian has certainly proved disastrous for UK PLC finances. A novice might not have sold off the UK's silver (gold, electricity to French Govt), nuclear engineering capacity plus where is the UK manufacturing base gone but the historian did

M. Cawdery, Craigavon, Co. UK, EU Courtesy Brown

Novice?? As most commentators realised the effect of his 10p gaff immediately doesn't that make him a novice in financial terms (He only had 10+ years after all as Chancellor.

And he certainly is a novice when it comes to owning up about mistakes...

He forgot - pensions grab, gold fiasco, Iraq

John James, Pontypridd, Wales

Come on people, let’s get serious here. We all complain how he should have done better, in fairness most of us head good time in last ten years and please stop moaning about debt you didn’t mind it when you had your loan approved. If you look around the world there is economical slowdown inflation everywhere, we are not alone.

nazim, london,

A load of PR bull!

Karen, Old Basing, England

OK first things first - Brown is not responsible for the global financial chaos we're in now. We can largely blame US sub prime for that. Secondly, I have absolutely no reason to believe the Tories would have responded to this situation any better. Can you honestly picture Cameron faring better ?

Alex, London, UK

And now for the Labour Voter Voucher challenge to keep Labour in: collect Labour Voter Voucher coupons from select marmalade jars and packets of crisps and claim your voucher for a free extra Labour vote at the next general election. Offer limited to 99 extra Labour votes per household.

derin, London,

So Gordon, you've had the of PM job for about a year. Does that make you an expert?

DH, Newport, UK

Brown is finished, but I am not convinced about the alternatives. His speech should have been "better the devil you know" as opposed to "no time for a novice". That would have held my convictions for a while longer.

ipd, Tokyo, Japan

How on earth does Brown intend to pay for increased spending announced in his speech when there is no money in the kitty? Back to Old Labour is it?

jean Andrews, Staplehurst, UK

'Novice' is the stupidest argument used only in desperation. Brown and Blair were novices in 1997 - so will be Camaeron in 2010. The only difference is Brown inherited a strong economy but will leave behind one in terrible shape, aggravated by global crisis.

Natarajan, New Malden, U.K.

Since Brown is the ultimate novice who created most of the country's problems, why doesn't he follow his beliefs and resign immediately?

mark mcfarland, dubai, uae

Gordon's speech yesterday was one that an aspiring leader of a party should give: you know, one going through an election (like Obama). 'This is me, this is what I believe in, this is what I hope to achieve.' Brown has been PM for a yr & in Govt for 11 - we KNOW what he's like & don't trust/like him

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

Unfortunately we all bear the cross of Brown's profligate waste in the good years and now he gives more away - from where? No, he is a busted flush.

William, London,

As chancellor,running the economy for 10 years on the basis of uncontrolled levels of debt,both personal and government,is what has got us in this situation.HIs solution is more of the same.If that's what experience has to offer it's time for a novice with fresh ideas.

Andy, Bristol, UK

Bye Bye Ruth you obviously see the writing on the wall. More time with the family or could it be lining up another job to pay for school fees when the MP and Ministers pay is gone?

Andy, Worthing, UK

Mr Brown is still a novice in the job - he has never faced a downturn in the economy before. Furthermore, his most successful period was when he simply followed Tory spending plans. Hardly an experienced decision-maker!

John Scott, London,

Well, to restore his credibility he needs to go beyond “owning up” to getting this 10p thing implemented.

Lotus, Sai Kung,

A pathetic attempt at captatio benevolentiae. You're no Mark Anthony, Brown; your oratory is certainly lacking, and your political acumen is sadly non-existent.

Paul Downes, Milton Keynes, UK

didnt he say he was going to legislate against child poverty?

the fact he considers not having the latest computer games poverty is bad enough but the fact he thinks he can make child poverty illegal would be hillarious if it wasnt so damaging. people have to be responsible for their own kids.

will, grimsby, uk

andrew ilkeston

did you mean respite?

yes 1/3 of us will get cancer, its terribly sad that people get ill, but everybody will get ill at some point. but why should the 2/3s that dont get cancer b forced to pay for the 1/3 that do. to me that just doesnt sound fair.

will, grimsby, uk

"This is no time for a novice". So surely, Gordon, you should go?

Alastair, Alicante, Spain

Mr Brown has about as much chance of winning the next election as a dead parrot.
He may have been a great Chancellor (ie - No.2) but he's no leader. No charisma, no self-esteem - his body language tells it all.
Labour are condemned to lose, simply because the voters want a change.

Clive Britcher, Caracas, Venezuela

Gordon Brown has the charisma of an undertaker. He is not the man to lead this country. History will not be kind to him.

James, London, England

Mr Brown was Chancellor for 10 years and never got beyond novice level. The last person we need to get us out of this mess is the person who got us into it!

Martin, Newmarket, Suffolk

"Obama lacks the fundamental experience needed to lead our nation in the future."

The same thing was said about Bill Clinton! He went on to lead the US through some prosperous times.

Of course, GW Bush is overflowing with experience!

John, London,

"No time for a novice"
Really? Look where the old hands got us.

Yet again, Brown's answer is to spend more money.

Anyway, I think I'll set up a business buying Internet capable PCs for £100 and selling them for £700. That's the only way I'm going to get any help from this government.

Mark, Nottingham,

I, as an American, find it funny that Gordon Brown thinks that it is “no time for a novice” in his country but has no problem subtly supporting Obama in America. Hence the reason why many Americans do not support Obama. Obama lacks the fundamental experience needed to lead our nation in the future.

Alfred, Dayton, USA

Gordon could have sang Mary had a little lamb and the party faithful would have given him a standing ovation.

Stephen Holmes, Withington Manchester, UK

But it IS time for a novice in the States, is it now Gordon? Do tell.

Andrew Pandap, New York City,

Great speech. Genuine, visionary and authoritative. The country needs to rethink its flirtation with Cameron and I believe this speech will be the turning point we need. Labour's record is better than we give credit for; Brown was right to remind us of Labour's achievements.

Michael, Bath,

It is high time the media and the country gave this prime minister a chance. It is still early days and many of the changes proposed are fair, balanced and sensible. Gordon Brown is more in touch with the needs of his people, and demonstates conviction and strength to do what is best.

Sylvia Lingwood, Ely, GB

Classic self-interest on the part of Gordon I’m afraid as the UK slips further into the morass of ever higher spending funded by taxpayers of the future. Let’s face it these are pork barrel projects designed to enhance Brown’s standing with no concern for cost or whether real welfare gains accrue.

Tony Penman, Clavering, Essex,

The only part of the speech I saw was Brown laying into the Tories - I just got fed up of it. I want to know what Labour is doing to help people in positions of hardship that Labour put them in (10p tax rate). A free laptop will increase electric bills, and it won't keep a roof over your head.

Ross, Ripon, UK

Gordon Brown has shown himself to be a true man of the people now and to relieve bills for cancer prescriptions will go some way to providing rest bite for thousands of families struggling to pay their bills whilst suffering the grief of cancer. 1/3 of us will get cancer. Think about that.

Andrew, Ilkeston, Great Britain

However, he will find the people who matter - the VOTERS - have a rather more critical assessment of his performance than the party aparatchiks.

Peter, London,

I hope the £700 vouchers for Internet access etc. are not going to be cash redeemable, but vouchers that can only be used for their sole purpose.

We all know what will happen if they are not!

Darren Ward, Manchester, UK

A speech short on substance, long on cliché and with very little in-between. Where will the money come from for these glittering freebees? More borrowing? That's not very prudent...

This speech will not save him.

Richard Holloway, London, UK

All tearful stuff! LABOUR and Brown are really scrabbling around now. The backdrop to the Labour conference is all about staving off defeat, preserving Gordon, speech-of-his-life-stuff! Normally a party has a conference devoted to issues, policies, the future and saving PM Gordon! Awful!

John Edgar, Cupar, Fife, Scotland

What a lacklustre performance. We were supposed to get the speech of his life and instead we had this. Brown is in denial about the dreadful position he has put the UK in during his stewardship of the economy. He made a half hearted attempt to apologise for the 10p mess and that was it. Awful!!

jim, Bristol,

Madness! At a time of deficits, he's got the chequebook out again!

Where is the repeal of the new car tax rates? What help for working people struggling to heat homes and meet the escalating costs of getting to work?

He should be slashing spending and cutting QUANGO funding instead.

Paul, London,