Prime Minister Brown confirmed yesterday that the general election will be held on Thursday 6th May.
Flanked by the cabinet outside 10 Downing Street, following a 20-minute meeting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Brown said that he wanted a ‘clear and straightforward mandate’ to continue the work of economic recovery.
He said he would be travelling the country telling voters: ‘Britain is on the road to recovery and nothing we do should put that recovery at risk.’
Future
He added: ‘We will not allow 13 years of investment and reform in our public services, to build up the future of these great services, to be put at risk.’
He spoke of the ‘courage’ of the armed forces in Afghanistan and said Labour would ‘support them in every way’, and would produce a plan to make politics more ‘transparent and accountable’.
He continued: ‘I come from an ordinary middle class family in an ordinary town and I know where I come from and I will never forget the values – doing the right thing, doing your duty, taking responsibility, telling the truth, working hard – that my parents instilled in me.
‘I am not a team of one. As everybody can see, I am one of a team. A team with energy, with substance, and with ideas to lead this amazing country in a second decade of a still new century.
‘We will fight for fairness at all times. We will say to the British people our cause is your cause. The future is within our grasp. It is a future fair for all. Now all of us, let’s go to it. Thank-you very much.’
The first televised leaders’ debate in British General Election history will take place next week.
The first of the 90-minute sessions will be screened on ITV1 on Thursday April 15, the next by Sky on April 22 and the last by the BBC on April 29.
Members of the audience will be able to put questions to Brown, Cameron and Clegg directly, while viewers can submit their own questions in advance online or by email.
The first debate will be on domestic affairs and will take place in north west England, a spokesman said.
The second event will be based on international affairs and take place in the south west.
The final debate, on economic affairs, will be held in the Midlands.
