Brown to face media grilling

The Prime Minister's regular Downing Street press conference comes a day after he sought to seize back the initiative by setting out his legislative plans for next year.

It also comes hot on the heels of the surprise announcement of a £2.7 billion pound tax cut aimed at ending the long-running row over the scrapping of the 10p lower rate.

Both have been ridiculed by opposition parties keen to capitalise on a tough period for the PM reeling from disastrous local election results, poor poll ratings, backbench revolts, highly critical memoirs and fears over the economy and the rising cost of living.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King braced households for a further budget squeeze as he warned inflation could spike as high as 3.7% this year.

And with just a week to go before voters in Crewe and Nantwich go to the ballot box in a crucial by-election, the stakes are high for a premier facing questions over his leadership.

Tory leader David Cameron will be campaigning in Cheshire as part of the party's bid to overturn Labour's 7,000-plus majority - as will Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

Mr Brown refused to tell MPs on Wednesday whether he too planned to visit the constituency.

In a major set-piece Commons statement, Mr Brown said reform of public services and welfare would be at the heart of his second Queen's Speech as PM later this year.

His "immediate priority" was to help families deal with the current economic turbulence and his "passion" was to give every Briton the opportunity to fulfil their potential, he told MPs, urging voters to judge him on those tests.