Speaking from Labour Party Conference in Brighton, Reading West MP Martin Salter praised a fighting speech by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the last Conference speech he will make before next yer’s General Election. Gordon Brown set out the challenges facing both the country and the Government in an hour long tour de force which confounded many of his critics and media pundits, and showed that the Prime Minister is clearly up for the fight against David Cameron and the Conservatives.

Mr Salter said:-

“I was really pleased at the way Gordon Brown set out the clear choices for the British people at the next election between Labour which believes that a Government should be on the side of the people and the Conservatives who, even in the depths of the recession, believe that Government should stand aside and that market forces should be allowed to take their course.”

He added:-

“Gordon Brown set out clearly how David Cameron and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne had failed the “recession test” by making the wrong judgements on how the country should respond to the global economic crisis that began last year.”

In his speech Gordon Brown said:-

“Only one party with pretensions to government made the wrong choice; the Conservative Party of Britain.

“They made the wrong choice on Northern Rock.

“The wrong choice on jobs and spending.

“The wrong choice on mortgage support.

“The wrong choice on working with Europe.

“The only thing about their policy that is consistent is that they are consistently wrong.”

Mr Salter said:-

“There is no doubt that had Britain had the misfortune of having a couple of lightweights like Cameron and Osborne running the country for the last twelve months, we would have seen a recession turn into a depression with devastating consequences for families here in Reading.”

Gordon Brown reminded Labour delegates that the next election is not so much about his future but about how Britain responds to the changed economic circumstances in which the world finds itself.

The Prime Minister said:-

“And so I say to the British people the election to come will not be about my future - it’s about your future.  Your job.  Your home.  Your children’s school.  Your hospital.  Your community.  Your country.”