UK:BRITISH FOREIGN secretary David Miliband - seen by many as the potential successor to the British prime minister - says he believes Gordon Brown "will prove people wrong" and lead Labour to general election victory.
Mr Miliband's latest intervention on the leadership issue came yesterday as Mr Brown sought to rally ministers at an away-day cabinet meeting in Birmingham in the build-up to Labour's annual conference, beginning in Manchester the weekend after next.
Mr Brown struck a defiantly upbeat note in the foreword to a conference policy document, promising that the resilience he had shown in response to great challenges in his personal life - the death of his baby daughter, and the loss of the sight in one eye resulting from a rugby injury at school - would be reflected in his resolute approach to the economic challenges now facing the UK.
There were fresh storm clouds gathering over the TUC congress in Brighton, where delegates backed plans for a programme of industrial action in protest over government policy on public sector pay restraint, while the chief executive of the Nationwide Building Society predicted house prices in the UK could fall by up to 25 per cent from their peak.
Graham Beale's prediction, which could see some 2.5 million homeowners slide into negative equity, also coincided with a declaration by shadow chancellor George Osborne that the dire state of the UK's public finances would impose a "straitjacket" on any incoming Conservative government for years to come.
Mr Brown sought to invoke "a proud spirit of cautious and practical optimism" as he proclaimed "fair rules, fair chances, and a fair say for everyone" in the "new deal for this new world".
In the document circulated to ministers ahead of yesterday's meeting, the prime minister also suggested Britain could emerge stronger than ever. "My own response to the great challenges in my own life has been to confront them, resolute in the belief that there would always be something that could be done to overcome them. And there always has been," he said to his troubled party.
"Now, once more, I am confident that we can come through this difficult economic time and meet these challenges a stronger, more secure, and fairer country than ever before."
In Brighton, meanwhile, union leaders castigated the "shabby treatment" of public sector workers, now told their pay rises must be limited to 2 per cent in face of rising inflation. "No doubt we will be blamed for letting in the Tories, but the fault lies with Gordon Brown and the Labour government," declared Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union. "If the Tories win the election the government have only themselves to blame."
Following a weekend party at Tony Blair's new country home, sources close to the former prime minister privately indicated the belief that Labour could win the next election if Mr Miliband was installed as Mr Brown's successor.
Former home secretary Charles Clarke's suggestion last week that Mr Brown might "stand down with dignity" is thought to reflect frustration at the reluctance of ministers to move directly against the prime minister.