Brown speech halted by own phone

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The Prime Minister was forced to break off from his demands for a resumption of lending when he realised that the phone ringing during a press conference was in his pocket.

"I'm afraid that's my phone," he said, breaking into a broad grin and reaching to turn it off.

Asked by laughing reporters who was trying to speak to him, he refused to say - and quickly got back to the urgent need for credit to start flowing again.

Mr Brown went on to declare it was essential that the international community had the confidence to act in unison as the global recession deepened.

This year's gathering of high-powered politicians, business leaders and financiers at the Swiss ski resort of Davos has been characterised by gloom about the world economy. Mr Brown flew in on Thursday night for two days of meetings.

Sitting alongside United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Mr Brown said: "2008 will be remembered as the year when global financial markets failed.

"I want 2009 to be remembered as the year when the world came together to reach urgent solutions and build for the future.

"And I believe history is not destiny - we have a choice about what happens next. And this is a time for more than just analysis and retrospection. It is a time for action and it is a time for having the confidence to act."

Mr Brown went on to caution fellow world leaders against a retreat into economic protectionism which, he said, would only harm international trade.