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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| We will fight recession - Brown | We will fight recession - Brown |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The government will fight the recession with "every weapon at its disposal", Gordon Brown has said. | The government will fight the recession with "every weapon at its disposal", Gordon Brown has said. |
| Speaking ahead of figures set to show the economy is officially shrinking, Mr Brown said it was a "different" recession from previous ones. | Speaking ahead of figures set to show the economy is officially shrinking, Mr Brown said it was a "different" recession from previous ones. |
| He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme its length would depend on the effectiveness of global co-operation. | He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme its length would depend on the effectiveness of global co-operation. |
| Mr Brown dismissed suggestions by the Conservatives that the UK might require financial support from the IMF. | Mr Brown dismissed suggestions by the Conservatives that the UK might require financial support from the IMF. |
| 'Difficult times' | 'Difficult times' |
| Figures published later are expected to show the UK economy contracted in each of the last two quarters of 2008 - the official definition of a recession. | |
| Unemployment has been rising sharply with the total number of people out of work now at its highest level since 1997. | Unemployment has been rising sharply with the total number of people out of work now at its highest level since 1997. |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm">More from Today programme class="" href="ID=">Data set to confirm UK recession | |
| The prime minister said many other leading economies, including the US, were already in recession and the policies required to deal with it were totally different than in the past. | The prime minister said many other leading economies, including the US, were already in recession and the policies required to deal with it were totally different than in the past. |
| "Every recession in the last sixty years in Britain has been caused by inflation and has been domestically generated," he said. "This is a completely different kind of event. This resulted from a global banking crisis." | "Every recession in the last sixty years in Britain has been caused by inflation and has been domestically generated," he said. "This is a completely different kind of event. This resulted from a global banking crisis." |
| Mr Brown declined to say how long he thought the recession would last, saying this would depend on how the international community dealt with the crisis. | Mr Brown declined to say how long he thought the recession would last, saying this would depend on how the international community dealt with the crisis. |
| He defended the government's own response, saying it had acted quickly to safeguard the banking system from collapse, provide support for businesses and homeowners and was now doing everything it could to stimulate bank lending. | He defended the government's own response, saying it had acted quickly to safeguard the banking system from collapse, provide support for businesses and homeowners and was now doing everything it could to stimulate bank lending. |
| Despite these "most difficult times", the prime minister said the "building blocks" for economic recovery were in place. | Despite these "most difficult times", the prime minister said the "building blocks" for economic recovery were in place. |
| The government was being "tested" by the economic problems, he added, but he believed it had the right solutions. | The government was being "tested" by the economic problems, he added, but he believed it had the right solutions. |
| IMF claims | |
| The prime minister was repeatedly pressed to admit he had got it wrong when he claimed to have ended "boom and bust" during his time as chancellor. | |
| He conceded the government had failed to predict the scale of the financial crisis, saying: "The problem was we had a complete market failure. The markets actually seized up." | |
| But he said the recession was different to previous downturns because it was not fuelled by inflation, which he said the government had succeeded in taming, saying: "It is quite different from anything we have dealt with before." | |
| He described suggestions by Tory leader David Cameron that the UK's perilous financial position meant it could ultimately be forced to go to the International Monetary Fund for emergency help, as happened during the last Labour government in 1976, as "ridiculous". | |
| The Conservatives have been highly critical of rising government borrowing levels - which Labour say are needed to support investment and protect jobs - saying this will saddle the UK with debts that will take a generation to pay off. | |
| Mr Cameron said on Thursday that if the UK continued "on its path of fiscal irresponsibility" the country could eventually run out of cash. | |
| Mr Brown said the Conservatives did not "properly understand" the problems facing the global economy and the UK. | |
| And in a reference to the recent sharp fall in the value of the pound against other currencies, he added that government policy would not be swayed by the "comments of speculators". |