PM tries to revive Labour hopes

Gordon Brown dismissed rumours about health problems

Gordon Brown has urged the Labour Party to "fight to win" the next general election.

The Conservatives are widely tipped for victory but the prime minister insists his party shouldn't give up.

The message comes after Chancellor Alistair Darling said too many people in the Labour Party, including Mr Brown, had let their heads drop and were heading for defeat.

The prime minister was talking at the annual Labour Party conference in Brighton - the last one before the general election, which has to come by next June.

With the prime minister in town seafront security's tighter than usual.

Guards and armed police, a real ring of steel round the hotel, make it seem like a fortress and a good place to plan a battle.

He started the conference by attacking the Tories.

"If we believe, as we will prove, that the Conservatives would take us backwards to the years we thought we had left in the recession of the 1980s and 90s, then we are the party fighting for the future."

For Mr Brown this week will be an opportunity to rally his troops in the party.

'Win that fight'

He said: "We are the party fighting for the future.

"Fighting for the British people, it is a fight for our values and a fight for the British people's values. Let's win that fight."

That word fighting comes up again and again. Gordon Brown knows if he's to stand any chance in the next election, he's got to pick his party up by the scruff of their necks and get them to go toe to toe with the Tories.

He's promising better care for cancer patients and is also keen to tell people he's leading the way, helping Britain and the world out of recession.

The prime minister also dismissed rumours about his health during an appearance on BBC One's Andrew Marr programme.

He was asked by Mr Marr: "A lot of people in this country use prescription painkillers and pills to help them get through. Are you one of them?"

Mr Brown replied: "No. I think this is the sort of questioning which is all too often entering the lexicon of British politics."

He also denied that his sight was deteriorating, following questions on US TV last week.

The prime minister lost the sight in one eye after a rugby accident when he was a teenager but said he recently had an annual check-up which showed his other eye had not got any worse.

Bankers

In his main speech, Chancellor Alistair Darling has promised new laws to stop bankers' yearly bonuses.

He says he wants to prevent bankers putting short-term profits over long-term success.

He said: "Any bonuses will have to paid over years so they can be clawed back if not warranted by long-term performance.

Peter Mandelson has extended the national car scrappage scheme

"We won't allow greed and recklessness ever again to endanger the full global economy."

Alistair Darling also said Labour should be "proud" of the way it has handled the economic crisis.

He told Labour conference delegates Gordon Brown's leadership had prevented a global recession from turning into a depression.

The Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has also extended the car scrappage scheme in his speech to the Labour conference.

The programme allows motorists to cash in cars which are more than 10 years old in exchange for £2,000 off new vehicles.

He said: "Our car scrappage scheme has been so successful the money is running out and the industry has asked that the scheme be topped up.

"Conference, I'm sorry we cannot do everything as a government. But that does not mean doing nothing.

"So today I am extending our popular car scrappage scheme extending it with extra money for an additional 100,000 cars and vans."