Brown focused on 'task in hand'

Gordon Brown says he will not be diverted by leadership speculation from his efforts to clean up politics and tackle the recession.

Mr Brown said there were ups and downs in politics but he was focused on "the task in hand", including reform of Parliament and public services.

Senior MPs have urged Labour colleagues to rally round Mr Brown after a week of turmoil for the party.

Meanwhile, Labour is nervously awaiting Sunday's European election results.

'Ups and downs'

If Labour fares badly in these polls, after damaging defeats in English council elections announced on Friday, backbench MPs could yet try to move against the prime minister.

Mr Brown sought to reassert his authority with a cabinet reshuffle on Friday after the resignation of a handful of senior ministers fuelled talk about his position.

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Speaking in France, where he has been attending events to mark the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Mr Brown said he was focused on dealing with the economic downturn and rebuilding trust in politics after the expenses scandal.

Asked about the turmoil of the past few days, he said: "In these unprecedented times, you are bound to have ups and downs in politics.

"But you have to stick with policies and make sure they come through. We keep on with the task in hand and we are not diverted from it."

As well as addressing what he described as the "political crisis" surrounding Westminster, Mr Brown said he was committed to "building the Britain of the future".

"I believe that the policies that we will set forward over the next few weeks, when we will talk about jobs, the health service, education, policing and crime - these are the policies that will take us through not just this downturn but build a better future," he said.

"Now that's the job I have got to do."

Rallying call

The prime minister is waiting to see whether his reshuffle will quell unrest among MPs as Labour braces itself for Sunday's European election results.

Labour ministers have urged fellow MPs still questioning Mr Brown's future to "get the message" from party supporters and unite behind Mr Brown.

Ben Bradshaw, promoted to the cabinet in Friday's reshuffle, said the prime minister was the right man to lead Labour into the next election.

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"I hope my Labour colleagues will now get the message from their Labour activists and supporters in their constituencies that they want people to rally round and unite and support the government in taking these very difficult decisions," he told the BBC.

Veteran Labour MP Tony Wright told BBC Radio 4's Today: "People are saying to us 'stop the infighting, stop the caballing, stop the organising against the leadership'."

He added that although Mr Brown might be a "clunky communicator" he was "a towering figure who has brought the world through the worst financial crisis for 60 years".

Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock said those wanting to topple Mr Brown were "very few in number" and "lacked guts" while ex-minister Michael Meacher said any debate on the leadership should focus on policy not personality.

But the unrest on Labour's backbenches continues, fuelled by its drubbing in Thursday's council elections where it lost control of its four remaining English country councils.

Key meeting

Former arts minister Mark Fisher has joined those calling on Mr Brown to go, while ex-cabinet minister Stephen Byers said MPs would have to decide by Monday - when Mr Brown is expected to address a crucial meeting of Labour MPs - whether he was "a winner or a loser".

BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said Mr Brown had kept his would-be challengers "on side" but the pressure on him was still huge and Labour's mood was still volatile.

Labour is facing a potentially difficult by-election in Norwich North after its sitting MP Ian Gibson, barred from standing at the next election over his expenses claims, quit with immediate effect.

And Mr Brown is also having to contend with the fallout from damaging comments from former minister Caroline Flint who accused the prime minister of treating female ministers as "little more than window dressing".

For the Conservatives, shadow communities and local government secretary Caroline Spelman told BBC Radio 4's Today that people wanted a general election to give the country a "fresh start".

"He [Mr Brown] may have shuffled the pack yesterday but I think some of the cards are a little on the dog-eared side."

Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said losing six cabinet ministers in three days had left the government in an "unbelievable shambles".

* There will be a Newsnight special: Brown on the Brink, on BBC Two at 1930 BST on Saturday

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