Brown: Britain to work with U.S. on financial crisis

MANCHESTER, Britain, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced here on Tuesday that Britain will work with the United States for a global solution on financial crisis.

He said at the Labour Party Conference that Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and him will visit New York on Wednesday and make proposals to financial and government leaders.

Britain will call for transparent transactions, global standards and supervision, sound banking to manage risks, responsibility on the part of banks, integrity to remove conflict of interest so that bonuses should not be based on short term speculative deals but on hard work and enterprise.

"If we make these changes I believe London will retain its rightful place as the financial center of the world," he noted.

Brown pledged to the whole country that the government will do "all it takes to stabilize the still turbulent financial markets and .. rebuild the world financial system around clear principles."

In a speech that many believe Brown "pours out his heart" to reassert his authority and regain the public trust amid cries for him to stand down, the prime minister reiterated that there should be "a new settlement for new times," especially at a time of continuing market turbulence.

Admitting his mistakes on the 10 percent tax policy, which has hurt the people on middle and modest incomes, Brown called for unity in the party for the interests of the people.

"What counts is not the pursuit of any sectional interest but the advancement of the public interest," he said in an hour-long speech widely deemed as "a speech of his lifetime."

Brown also pledged his "unswerving focus" to take the country through the challenging economic circumstances and build the fair society of the future.

He believes that the collapse of banks, credit crunch, trebling of oil prices, speed of technology, and the rise of Asia are evidence that "we are in a different world and it's now a global age." And it takes global action to resolve global problems.

British economy has gone into recession in the past months with rising food and energy prices, higher inflation rate which double the government target and falling housing prices. Against such backdrop, the financial crisis that hit the country in the last weeks with thousands of job losses predicted has added oil to the already highly soaring flame.

Brown's failure in judgement and a lack of clarity in his policies has led to a steady decline in voters' support to the ruling party, which shows Labour lagging behind the main opposition Conservatives by 20 percentage points.

Brown's speech at the five-day conference showed his determination to lead the country in the times of economic and political troubles.