Brown defends recession decisions

Sarah Brown listens to her husband Prime Minister Gordon Brown speech at the Welsh Labour Party Conference in Swansea
12 April 2012

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has dismissed the Conservatives' offer of change at the general election, saying a Tory government would "short-change" families.

As David Cameron announced his party would campaign for the election under the slogan Vote for Change, Mr Brown said the Tories clung to the same policies that defined them a century ago.

Speaking at the Welsh Labour conference in Swansea, Mr Brown defended the Government's record on tackling the recession, saying it had made the right decision to take control of failing banks and to nationalise Northern Rock.

And after a week of potentially damaging stories about his character, Mr Brown joked that he had been accused of everything short of killing Archie Mitchell in EastEnders.

"I promise, I didn't even lay a finger on him," he said.

Mr Brown said he and his wife Sarah were happy to be among friends, saying a friend was "someone who knows all about you, but likes you anyway".

"And I think you do know me. I know that I will always focus on the big questions and I hope you all know that I will always focus on what matters."

He contrasted Labour's approach to the economy with that of the Conservatives, saying the Government had faced "ideological opposition" from the Tories who had been proved wrong at every occasion during the recession.

He said the savings of ordinary families had been protected "not by default, but by a decision made by a Labour Government on behalf of and with the support of the British people - and in the face of the ideological opposition of the Conservative Party".

"We had a choice to do what the Conservatives said and 'let the recession take its course'." He added: "At each turning point our opponents would have made the wrong decision."

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