Labour will be united, says Brown

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8119351.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Gordon Brown has outlined a four point plan to win the next election including a pledge to make Labour a "disciplined, united and campaigning party".

He said voters wanted to see them clean up politics, help people through the recession and "put forward our vision".

The expenses row made it hard to get his message across but within months people would see progress, he said.

He also said Labour candidates would have to sign a pledge to uphold "high standards of integrity".

Mr Brown said being united, cleaning up politics, tackling the recession and putting forward Labour's vision for public services were essential if the party was "to be ready for and to win" the next election.

"A month ago these conditions of victory were not met," he told activists at a meeting at the party's London headquarters.

Leadership rumblings

People had not yet seen the results of efforts to tackle the expenses crisis and the recession.

And he said the party's policies had been drowned out by the recent expenses stories, which were followed by a series of resignations and criticism of Mr Brown's leadership.

Politics is only about one thing - it is public service Gordon Brown

"We were never allowed above all the noise to put forward our message about the future for our public services and our country," he told activists.

The government would be putting forward its plans for more personalised public services over the next week, he said.

In a reference to a week in which several cabinet ministers resigned - with one, James Purnell, openly calling for him to stand aside, he acknowledged "we were not as disciplined as we should be".

"We will be a disciplined, united and campaigning party."

The party's prospective Parliamentary candidates have been told to sign an agreement to uphold "high standards of integrity" in the wake of public anger at claims MPs made on their second homes expenses.

Mr Brown told the meeting it was important to show that politicians understood what voters expected of them.

"Politics is only about one thing - it is public service," he said.

The pledge also commits candidates to "prudence with public money", to comply with all Commons rules and to publish all allowances on line.

He also continued his attack on what he says are Conservative plans to cut public spending by 10% - the Tories deny this and have accused Mr Brown of using misleading figures about his own plans for capital spending.