Economic storm not yet over - Brown

The Prime Minister used a speech to a City audience to set the stage for a May 6 general election, announcing that the Budget would be held in "two weeks' time" - taking it to March 24.

Mr Brown declared he had the "character" to lead Britain through to economic recovery and warned that "ideologically-driven" Tory plans for cuts risked tipping it back into recession.

He insisted that it was not a matter of voters choosing between "policy" and "character", as the two issues were inextricably linked.

"It is for other people to judge but I believe that character is not about telling people what they want to hear but about telling them what they need to know," he said.

"It is about having the courage to set out your mission and the courage to take the tough decisions and stick to them without being blown off-course, even when the going is difficult. For better or for worse, with me what you see is what you get."

Mr Brown said that the Government remains committed to halving Britain's record £178 billion deficit within four years.

He announced a "pay freeze" for senior staff in the Civil Service, the military top brass, judges, and consultants, GPs, dentists and senior managers in the NHS. Following on from the freeze on parliamentary and ministerial salaries for all Government ministers which he announced last week, Mr Brown said the curbs on public sector pay would save more than £3 billion by 2013-14.

However he stressed that while the worst of the recession is over, the economic recovery remains "fragile" and could be undermined if spending cuts were pushed through too quickly.

"In my view we are nearly there in repairing the global financial system. But there is nothing pre-ordained or automatic about the upturn, either here or around the world," he said. "While we have come through the worst of this dreadful storm, the waters are still choppy. There are still real risks to the recovery."