British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Monday defended his decision to rule out calling a general election this autumn, saying he first wants to "deliver on my vision for the country."
"I need time to show people my vision can be delivered, and to get on with business," he said at a weekly press conference in which journalists tried hard to dig out what was behind his decision on the weekend to rule out a general election this autumn.
"I considered an election but my first instinct was to govern," Brown said.
Nonetheless, he said, "I believe we would have won an election with a majority," and "changes in the polls did not affect the decision to hold an election."
Brown insisted that he takes full responsibility for all decisions made as prime minister.
Speculation that there would be an autumn election ran wild during the Labour Party Conference at the end of September. This was driven by a number of government ministers and other senior party members refusing to rule out going to the country, and the party's striking lead over the Conservatives in several major opinion polls.
However, following Conservative leader David Cameron's conference speech on Oct.3, and shadow chancellor George Osborne's proposal to scrap the controversial inheritance tax, support for the opposition grew. The ICM survey for London's News of the World Sunday put the Conservatives at 44 percent and Labour at 38, showing that the Conservatives would defeat 49 Labour members of parliament, including several ministers.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article