Cameron pledges unity on crisis

Keen to cast himself in a key role in the international crisis, Mr Cameron promised his full support for emergency measures and dropped Tory objections to laws currently before Parliament designed to rescue struggling banks.

In a short and sombre speech to the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, he said he would not allow the damaging divisions seen at the US Congress to be echoed in Parliament.

"There may well need to be a marshalling of public support behind some big decisions," he said. "We cannot allow what happened in America to happen here."

In markedly harsher language towards the City, he said there would be "a day of reckoning" with bankers whose mistakes caused the crisis.

He went on: "Today is a day for safety, for security, and for protection. Everyone needs to know that we are doing everything we can to help you keep your job, your savings, your pension, your mortgage safe, that we are not playing politics with this, that we will always do the right thing to protect your life and your future."

Immediately after the statement, shadow chancellor George Osborne left for talks in London with Chancellor Alistair Darling.

Mr Cameron denied he was giving the Prime Minster a blank cheque but his move will strengthen Mr Brown's hand in pushing through controversial banking legislation. Downing Street gave a cautious welcome to his offer, though aides said they were not aware there was a serious risk of an American-style gridlock.

The Commons will assemble on Monday when an emergency statement is expected. Mr Osborne's officials said the Tories were keen to co-operate on three main areas, including enhanced protection for savers and rapid payouts of their money. The party would drop objections to the Banking Reform Bill enabling the Bank of England to intervene on failing banks, viewed by Labour as a significant climbdown.

They called for the suspension of "mark-to-market pricing" which they said drove down asset prices during a crisis. Mr Cameron sought to contrast his approach with the Left by saying he would not let anger with the City failings to cloud judgment or turn opinion against the free market. But he said: "They paid themselves vast rewards when all was going well and the minute it went wrong they came to us to bail them out. There will be a day of reckoning but today isn't that day."

Earlier he admitted he had considered cancelling the rest of the Tory conference, due to end tomorrow afternoon, because of the crisis.

A poll shows Mr Brown is benefitting most from the crisis. The ComRes survey for The Independent found the Tory lead slashed to 12 points, at 41 per cent to 29 per cent. Over four in 10 saw Mr Brown as "best in a crisis" compared with a third for the Tory leader.