Brown ‘not complacent’ over credit crunch

Gordon Brown has insisted he will steer the UK away from economic disaster, even if it makes him unpopular.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that families were feeling the squeeze from the credit crunch. However, he said the long-term interests of the country were his priority: "I'm not complacent and I will always be vigilant. 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?"

On Tuesday Mr Brown met with bosses from Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Nationwide to discuss the "next steps" in securing the financial system, amid evidence that property prices are slumping and borrowing costs rising.

He has described the stabilising of the economy as his "sole focus", saying: "What people would not thank me for is taking the wrong long-term decisions."