BRITAIN:Gordon Brown yesterday mixed patriotism and social conservatism with the promise of more progressive change in a conference speech that left Labour and the opposition parties still guessing about his election intentions.
In his first speech to conference as Labour leader and prime minister, Mr Brown spelt out his plans to meet "the rising aspirations of the British people" while anticipating "the next stage of our country's long journey to build the strong and fair society".
Pledging to build "a genuinely meritocratic Britain", Mr Brown insisted that "a class-free society" could become reality in Britain, while confirming that Labour's manifesto will "introduce the principle of elections" for the House of Lords.
However, that was Mr Brown's only concession to the election fever gripping the Labour gathering in Bournemouth, as MPs and trade union leaders - buoyed by fresh opinion polls confirming Labour's seemingly commanding lead over the Tories - urged him to gamble on a late October or early November poll.
An Ipsos-MORI poll for the Sunnewspaper suggested that Mr Brown would smash the Tories with a staggering 17-point lead - provided he conceded a vote on the new EU constitutional treaty. However, Mr Brown made no concession to that demand yesterday, instead saying: "I accept my responsibility to write in detail into the amended European treaty the red lines that we have negotiated for Britain."
At the same time health secretary Alan Johnson, former leader Lord (Neil) Kinnock and Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair's former director of communications, all urged Mr Brown to caution amid growing suspicion among senior commentators that the party leadership has almost "talked itself" into a snap election.
In his speech Mr Brown identified health, education, street crime and under-age drinking among key issues. Mr Johnson insisted that yesterday's speech setting out Mr Brown's "personal credo" would have been the same regardless of election speculation, inclining to caution and suggesting "the more the public see him [ Mr Brown] the more they like him".
Mr Campbell said he was not convinced Mr Brown needed to go to the country after three months in the job: "All his options are open to him and I think he should keep them that way."
The expectation is that Mr Brown will certainly do that until he and his closest advisers have the opportunity to assess the impact of this week's conference and the up-to-date polling evidence as the Conservatives prepare for Blackpool.
Mr Brown targeted Conservatives leader David Cameron's proposed use of the tax system to reward marriage, saying: "I say to the children of two-parent families, one-parent families, foster parent families; to the widow bringing up children: I stand for a Britain that supports as first class citizens, not just some children and some families, but all children and all families."
Casting himself "a conviction politician", this stern Brown was also a patriotic one, returning to his "Britishness" theme as he recalled this summer's failed terror attacks in London and Glasgow and the return of foot-and-mouth disease.
Yet he curiously excluded reference to Northern Ireland when saying: "As we saw again this summer there is no Scotland-only, no Wales-only, no England-only answer to the spread of disease or to terrorist attacks that can strike at any time, anywhere, in any part of our country. And sharing this same small island, we will meet our environmental, economic and security challenges not by splitting apart but when we as Great Britain stand together." Amid evidence that some Conservatives are attracted by Mr Brown's views on social issues, the prime minister promised a strategy to "punish" and "prevent" anti-social behaviour like underage drinking - warning shops that repeatedly sell alcohol to those under age "we will take your licences away". Mr Brown also suggested that "any newcomer to Britain caught selling drugs or using guns will be thrown out" - although justice secretary Jack Straw later conceded that human rights legislation might prevent such action against EU nationals.
Responding to Mr Cameron's campaign to heal a "broken" society, Mr Brown said: "We all know that in our society we do have real problems to solve, real needs to meet, but don't let anyone tell us - the British people - that this country of ours, which has over centuries given so much to the world, has ever been broken by anyone or anything."