MANCHESTER (AFP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown has admitted he could do better as Foreign Secretary David Miliband -- the favourite to replace him should he step down -- prepares to take the platform at Labour annual conference on Monday.
Although Miliband has distanced himself from a leadership challenge, delivering a strong speech at the conference could fuel dissent among the party ranks.
"I want to do better, obviously I always want to do better, my whole ethos, my school motto was 'I will try my utmost', I want to do better always," Brown told BBC television on Sunday.
"When you have an international financial crisis, I happen to think I'm better prepared to deal with that than perhaps anyone."
The prime minister, who took over in June 2007, said he was working with other world leaders including US President George W. Bush to establish international rules to regulate the financial system more tightly.
However, 11 company bosses condemned the government's financial policy in a letter to the Financial Times, calling for a "new direction," with a focus on simpler taxes and less national debt to strengthen the economy.
Asked about pressure for a change of Labour leader, Brown indicated he had no intention of stepping down and quoted author Joseph Conrad.
"The best way to deal with that storm is, he said, facing it, facing it. I think all the Cabinet and the government are of the same mind.".
"We would be letting people down if suddenly we walked away and said 'we bail out'. What we do is we keep doing what is right for this country."
When questioned about whether he would still be premier at the end of the year, Brown said: "Yes, of course."
Labour is putting on a unified face at its five-day conference in Manchester, with senior ministers rallying around Brown despite persistent questions about how long he can stay in the job. His keynote speech is on Tuesday.
This month, four MPs who spoke against him were forced out of their junior government jobs and 12 declared their support for a leadership contest.
The Conservatives are set to sweep Labour aside at the next election, which must be held by mid-2010, with a parliamentary majority of 146, according to an Observer newspaper/PoliticsHome.com opinion poll published Sunday.
A second YouGov/Sunday Times poll of Labour members said 60 percent believe the party cannot win a general election under Brown and made Miliband the favourite to take over.
Although Miliband said Saturday now was not the time for a leadership election, he gave two major newspaper interviews focusing on his family and personality, fuelling speculation about his long-term ambitions.
In a further sign of opposition to Brown, former home secretary Charles Clarke, a prominent Brown critic, again called for the premier to go.
"I am very sceptical personally about his ability to pull it around and therefore I think he probably should stand down," he told BBC television.
And MP Barry Gardiner, who left his job as Brown's forestry envoy when he called for a leadership contest, said the conference show of unity was like a family "putting on a good face" at Christmas despite the underlying problems.
Brown received a boost when a Sunday Independent/ComRes poll put the Conservatives on 39 percent and Labour on 27 percent, a lead of 12 points and a Tory reduction of seven since last month.
The paper linked the result to Brown's handling of the economic turmoil and the government-backed takeover of HBOS bank by rival Lloyds TSB last Thursday.
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