Brown insists his party can recover

Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted on Sunday he had made mistakes but insisted his party could recover from crushing local poll losses to win the next parliamentary election.

Brown pinned the blame for the Labour Party's disastrous election performance last Thursday on the weakening economy and voters' concerns over rising food, energy and mortgage costs but said he was the man to lead the party through the storm.

"Of course we can recover from this position," Brown told the BBC in one of a series of interviews intended to mark his fightback after the election reverse.

Labour, which has governed Britain for 11 years, lost hundreds of council seats in its worst local election performance on record. The Conservatives ousted Labour's long-serving Ken Livingstone as mayor of London, claiming a high-profile platform to test their policies.

Labour's share of the vote plunged to 24 percent, 20 points behind the Conservatives, who would soar to a landslide victory if they could repeat that result at the next parliamentary election, which Brown must call by mid-2010.

In an interview on Sky News, Brown insisted he could beat David Cameron, who has re-energised the Conservatives, at the next general election and win a fourth term for Labour.

Vowing to take the fight to the Conservatives, Brown promised announcements in the next few weeks on helping people in the housing market and helping small businesses get funding as well as on health and education.

The election defeat was a severe rebuff to Brown, who replaced Tony Blair as prime minister 11 months ago after serving for a decade as Blair's chancellor.

SLIDE IN POPULARITY

Brown's popularity has been hit by the credit crunch, administrative blunders and doubts among voters over whether his dour personality is suited to leadership. Homeowners fear house prices may plunge due to tight lending.

"My immediate priority is making sure we come through this difficult economic time which is causing ... so much anxiety and insecurity in the country," Brown told the BBC, adding that he felt responsible for the poor election result.

He admitted his government had made mistakes over the abolition of a 10 percent tax band, which hit low earners and is seen as a key factor in the election losses. He admitted he was at fault in allowing speculation about a snap election to go on for too long last year.

Brown denied he had mismanaged the economy, saying low national debt meant Britain could borrow now while relatively low inflation had allowed interest rates to be cut.

He vowed to press ahead with plans to extend the pre-charge detention period for terrorism suspects to 42 days despite signs he could face a parliamentary defeat.

The Conservatives scoffed at Brown's counter-attack.

"If that was the fightback, Gordon Brown is now in deeper water... A lot of the economic difficulties we are facing are caused entirely by him," senior Conservative Alan Duncan said.

Tackling doubts over his personality, Brown admitted he was a "more private person" than Blair and conceded he may focus too much on the detail of policy.

The party's slide has caused growing alarm among Labour legislators. One Labour MP, Graham Stringer, said on Saturday that ministers had been involved in talks on whether there should be a leadership challenge to Brown.

Brown said he did not expect to face a challenge.

Left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell denied a newspaper report that he was considering challenging Brown as a "stalking horse" to tempt a higher profile figure into the race. In any case, Labour rules make it extremely difficult to oust a leader.