Brown - economy is first priority - News in brief

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The Prime Minister refused to speculate on whether he could call a general election this year, saying jobs, homes and businesses were "the only thing on my mind".

"I am not going to get into talk about dates. We have got to show people how we can take the country through this difficulty," he told Sky News.

Labour cut the Tory lead to seven points in the latest poll, as voters gave a thumbs up to his handling of the London gathering of world leaders that agreed a 1.1 trillion dollar boost to the global economy.

But Mr Brown said: "I think if you were a citizen of Britain looking at what's happening in the economy you would want our first priority to be exactly what it is, and that is taking this country through the difficulties, preparing ourselves for the future, getting the economy onto a growth path, recognising that it is a global recession and that we have got to co-operate with other countries.

"Our first priority, and it is our first priority, is jobs and it's homes and it's businesses.

"That's the only thing on my mind at the moment - how we can take the action that is necessary to take us through this downturn."