Sports Calendar

“We have got to show, as we have done in the past, that we can come through these difficult economic times, make sure people feel safer in their jobs and their mortgages and make sure that people know that this economic plan we have for the future is taking us out of the downturn and preparing for the upturn.”

He added: “What people are most worried about - and I do understand this and I feel the hurt they feel - [is that] petrol prices are going up, food prices are going up, they are worried about utilities bills, they are worried about their standard of living, there is an uncertainty about the economy...

“People’s immediate priority is how to deal with the family budgets and the problems we face as a result of what is an economic downturn which started in America.

“My first focus and immediate priority is how we get through this difficult economic time which is causing, I think, so much anxiety and insecurity in this country.”

He did not deny that Labour have now become the underdogs in the fight for Britain.

“If we are the underdog, we are certainly fighting and we are fighting hard.

“We are standing up for people facing difficulties, standing up for what I believe - and what I believe is that opportunity for every citizen in this country should be greater than it is at the moment - standing up against a Conservative Party that looks like slick salesmen but actually doesn’t have the answers to the real challenges this country is facing. That is the choice the country will face over the next few years.”

Mr Brown said the lesson he had learnt from the bruising dealt him this week at the ballot box was that “you have got to be resilient in the face of adversity but you have also got to understand, and understand very clearly, how people are seeing things”.

He added: “I think I am someone who believes passionately in opportunity and fairness. I believe that over the last 10 years, I have shown that I can take people through difficult circumstances, including economic problems. “I believe that the real Gordon Brown is someone who is standing up at all times for hard-working families in this country.

“That’s what makes me tick. That’s what I am about. That’s what the dividing line in politics is.”

There was more fighting talk. “Leadership is tested not by what happens in the best of times but what happens when things are difficult. “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.”

Mr Brown said he would go 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 head-on collision with Labour backbenchers. “It’s the right thing for the country,” he said.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Family cuts its waste to one binful a year
• Cameron can learn from Thatcher in 1979
• VAT is back ... and it's confusing