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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Brown 'to talk of spending cuts' | Brown 'to talk of spending cuts' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Gordon Brown is to admit for the first time that spending cuts will be needed, the BBC understands. | Gordon Brown is to admit for the first time that spending cuts will be needed, the BBC understands. |
| BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Brown would make his most explicit comments yet on spending choices in a speech to union leaders on Tuesday. | BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Brown would make his most explicit comments yet on spending choices in a speech to union leaders on Tuesday. |
| Labour has resisted talk of cuts up to now and contrasted its commitment to protect spending on core services with claims the Tories plan "savage" cuts. | Labour has resisted talk of cuts up to now and contrasted its commitment to protect spending on core services with claims the Tories plan "savage" cuts. |
| The Conservatives say urgent action is required to tackle rising debt levels. | The Conservatives say urgent action is required to tackle rising debt levels. |
| 'Tough choices' | |
| Our correspondent understands that Mr Brown will use the word "cuts" when he addresses the TUC congress. | |
| One cabinet minister told the BBC that the speech would amount to a clearing of the decks and enable Mr Brown to take the fight to the Conservatives, who have been accusing him of evading reality about the state of public finances. | |
| Recent opinion polls have suggested the public believes that public spending will have to be cut regardless of who wins the next election and that voters prefer curbs on spending to tax rises as a way of reducing the nation's debt. | |
| Up to now, Mr Brown has staunchly refused to discuss the prospect of cuts, preferring instead to talk of "tough choices" and saving money through greater efficiencies and sales of assets. | |
| Earlier, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said Labour must deal with the recession by not losing its "nerve" over public spending. | |
| In a speech in London, he said that Labour would continue to protect spending to help the economy out of recession, contrasting the party's strategy with that of the Tories. | |
| But he said public spending was not an end in itself and stressed economic conditions meant the government would have to "economise and prioritise" once the economy returned to growth. | |
| Mr Brown's comments may not go down well with union leaders who have warned all parties against "knee-jerk" cuts in public services as a way of saving money and paying down debt. | |
| Unions have warned that they will consider strike action in the event of future threats to public sector jobs. | |
| The level of public spending is set to be a major issue in the run-up to the next election as the government defends its plans to halve its budget deficit - expected to reach £175bn this year - within four years. | |
| The Conservatives have accused the government of "reckless" spending and said public expenditure should begin to be reduced immediately. |