Conservative leader David Cameron has said his party will work with the government to tackle the continuing financial turbulence.
Conservative leader David Cameron has said in an emergency statement that he will work with the government to tackle the continuing financial turbulence.
Mr Cameron said, as a "responsible opposition", the Tories would help get legislation through Parliament.
Mr Cameron told his party's conference Tories would do what was needed to help bring economic stability and protect people's jobs, savings and pensions.
The prime minister spoke to Mr Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on Monday night to keep them updated.
He said that "democracies were being tested" and that people were "confused and concerned" about the situation.
Mr Cameron is currently making an emergency statement on the situation at the Conservative Party conference.
He said there would be day of reckoning for bankers, but said "this is not it".
The priority at the moment was to ensure stability in the banking and financial system.
And he said that he wanted to ensure that the type of " political wrangling" seen in the US did not happen in the UK, he added.
US share prices fell heavily in late Monday trading after a $700bn financial rescue plan was rejected by the US House of Representatives.
US share prices fell heavily in late Monday trading after a $700bn financial rescue plan was rejected by the US House of Representatives.
'Important questions'
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, from his party's conference in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said: "Just as you need cross-party working in the US to get this vital package through, so in the UK we should stand ready as a responsible opposition to help in any way we can."
He said they had to get legislation through on bank rescues, adding: "Parliament comes back on Monday and I think we need to get on with that job in a cross-party way."
But he said he would still ask "important questions" about the legislation and called for a new scheme which "absolutely safeguards" deposits in banks and building societies.
I'm running a unified party that is a very strong team of leaders that are so unified that we are able completely to focus on the problems of Britain David Cameron
He said further steps may be needed to provide stability, adding: "People will want to see cross-party support rather than perhaps what we have seen in the US, because we have to try and take public opinion with us for difficult decisions that may have to be taken."
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has also urged a "suspension of normal political hostilities" and called for a cross-party consensus on dealing with the economic problems.
Mr Brown said earlier it was "very disappointing" that the US rescue package had been voted down by 228 to 205 votes in the House of Representatives. He has pledged to take "whatever action necessary to ensure continued stability for Britain".
Financial stability
Asked about the Conservatives' offer of cooperation, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper told GMTV earlier it would be "helpful", but said they had opposed action on the Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock.
"I think that was irresponsible because I don't think it would have been right for the government in those situations to just effectively let those banks go under with all the risks that would have posed for the financial stability of the system as a whole," she said.
The Conservatives have criticised the government over its handling of the economy.
On Monday shadow chancellor George Osborne told the Tory conference there had been an "age of irresponsibility", allowing people to rack up more than a trillion pounds of mortgages and credit card bills and households debts.
And shadow business secretary Alan Duncan accused Mr Brown of planning to leave a "scorched earth" economy for the a future Conservative government.
But a ComRes poll of 1,017 people for the Independent suggests that the prime minister is still seen as the "best in a crisis" of the party leaders.
Of those polled, 43% said Mr Brown was more trusted on the economy, while 33% trusted Mr Cameron more.
The prime minister has repeated a number of times his claim that, after 10 years at the Treasury, he is best placed to steer Britain through the financial turbulence, telling his own party conference it was "no time for a novice".
But Mr Cameron told the BBC: "I've worked in the Treasury, I've worked in business, I've run the Conservative party for the last three years.
"I'm running a unified party that is a very strong team of leaders that are so unified that we are able completely to focus on the problems of Britain rather than what happened last week.
"I think even Labour Party people would accept they spent quite a lot of time talking about themselves but you have to prove this in politics over a period of time and that's what I'm devoted to doing."
