British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Sunday that his ruling Labor Party had to show there was a "clear and unequivocal" plan to deal with the "economic downturn."
He made the remarks in an interview with BBC after his party's worst local election results in four decades.
"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," Brown was quoted as saying.
He added that the main problem was the difficult economic circumstances.
"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," Brown said.
Brown said he would sort out the immediate problem with Britain's economy, as well as proving that his government has "the vision of the future that will carry this country optimistically into its next phase."
British voters were worried about rising petrol and food prices and utility bills, he said.
"I do understand this and I feel the hurt that they feel," Brown said.
Brown admitted that he had made mistakes over the decision to axe the 10 percent tax rate, which is estimated to have hit more than 5 million people on low incomes, saying he had spent "too little time" thinking about getting his message across to the public.
Brown said his party was on the side of "hard-working families" and was intervening to try to ease problems.
In local councils' polls on May 1, the Labor Party lost the control of nine councils and its poor local election results were topped by Ken Livingstone's defeat by Conservative candidate Boris Johnson in London's mayoral race.
Various newspapers have speculated about plans to oust Brown as Labor leader, but he said he did not believe many MPs are saying that and he did not accept that voters had deserted him.
Source:Xinhua
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