Cameron twists the knife as Brown bottles it over snap election

He said the Government had lost a lot of authority.

Giving a statement from his Witney constituency, he told reporters: "We have not seen courage at all. We have seen weakness and indecision."

The reason "dithering" Mr Brown had climbed down was that the Conservatives were making the arguments about the changes the country needs, he said.

"People are responding very positively to our proposals.

"I think the Prime Minister has shown great weakness and indecision.

"It is quite clear, he's not been focussed on running the country these last few months, he's been trying to spin his way into a general election campaign and now he's had to make a humiliating retreat.

"The big disappointment for me, and I think for millions of people in this country, is we're now going to have to wait possibly two years before we can get the real change that we need in our country.

"Change to improve our National Health Service, change to raise standards in schools, change to give people opportunity in their life.

"We're going to have to wait for that change. The Prime Minister says he has a vision for change, well put that to people in a general election.

"This is not the vision for change, it's just is strategy to cling to office and to waste time in our country when we need real change, change the Conservative party is winning the argument about."

Asked if he really wanted to fight a general election, the Conservative leader replied: "Yes."

He said Mr Brown did not have a mandate.

He said that the Conservatives would fight whenever Mr Brown had the "courage" to call an election.

Asked if Mr Brown had effectively kept him in a job, Mr Cameron replied: "Well, this isn't the job I want.

"The job I want is giving the country the leadership that we need."

The Conservative leader said that what was required was new leadership, and the party would take its "really strong policy programme" around the country.

He said the Government had had 10 years and had failed.

"It is now drifting, it is indecisive," he said, and "showing extraordinary weakness with this absolutely shambolic performance of ramping everyone up for an election, sending Cabinet ministers out to brief the press, bringing forward announcements, faking figures about the return of troops from Iraq, faking hospital openings, everything to try and prepare for an election, and now a humiliating retreat.

"Robbing the people of this country of a chance for real change."

He said the Government had no arguments about the future of the country or vision.

"You're seeing the fresh thinking, the fresh ideas from the Conservative party."

He added that Mr Brown had had to make a retreat "because it's the Conservative party that's winning the arguments in Britain today".