Election speculation 'nonsense'

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Douglas Alexander said talk that Mr Brown might have called an election as early as this week were "nonsense".

And the Prime Minister is set to spell out his vision of the future of Government and how it can reconnect with a public increasingly disillusioned with mainstream political parties.

Weekly Cabinet meetings will begin again on Tuesday after Mr Brown returns from his visit to the Queen at Balmoral.

Ministers will focus on the forthcoming Queen's Speech setting out Mr Brown's first legislative programme, and the remaining business of the parliamentary spillover session.

Mr Alexander, who is also International Development Secretary, told BBC News 24 Sunday programme: "The claim that the Conservatives made that we are announcing an election this week, it's no surprise, is nonsense."

He added: "My job is to make sure our campaign, our party, is ready, whenever the Prime Minister decides to go to the country. I will make sure we are ready whenever the starting gun is fired, but I don't think it's a great revelation to say there's not going to be an election called in the next two, three, five, six days."

He added of David Cameron's Conservatives: "I would take with a pinch of salt stories they are putting out to mask their own difficulties."

Another close ally of Mr Brown, Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls, also played down talk of a snap early election.

He told GMTV Sunday programme: "I honestly don't think Gordon Brown is sitting each day thinking 'shall I call the election?' He's been Prime Minister now for about 10 weeks. If the public thought that Gordon Brown's main calculation was 'shall I dash for an election?' I think they'd think he wasn't really focused on the job."