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UK's Brown lays out plans to soften blow of recession

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-03 10:03

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will propose measures on Wednesday aimed at helping hard-pressed families and small firms through a recession and boosting his own chances of winning another term in office.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown (R) and Chancellor Alistair Darling (2nd L) join 1 year-old Sebastian (L) and 1 year-old Theo (2nd R) for breakfast during a visit to Westminster Children's Society in central London, November 24, 2008. Brown will try to kickstart the stalling economy on Monday by spending billions of borrowed pounds on tax cuts in a bid to stop a recession turning into a slump. [Agencies]

Brown's slate for 2009, to be set out in the traditional speech to parliament by Queen Elizabeth, will focus on easing the pain of a sharp economic downturn by seeking to boost a sliding housing market and encouraging banks to lend to credit-starved firms.

"The political message will be: 'We are focusing on dealing with the threat of the recession. That's our central purpose as a government'," said Warwick University politics professor Wyn Grant.

The speech will stake out the ground on which Brown wishes to fight the next general election, which he must call by mid-2010.

Brown has won praise for his handling of the credit crunch, helping him cut the opposition Conservatives' lead in the opinion polls, but his Labour Party still lags by between one and 11 percentage points in the most recent surveys.

The government will announce a legally binding code of conduct for banks, which would allow regulators to impose huge fines on banks if they do not treat their customers fairly, the Independent newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The move is a response to complaints from small firms that banks have suddenly changed the conditions of loan agreements during the credit crunch.

Other new laws will aim to improve Britain's long-term competitiveness by reforming public services and welfare and strengthening education.

The Financial Times said Brown would also press ahead with plans for more part-time working rights for 4.5 million staff despite demands from business leaders for the measure to be dropped.

Slide into Recession

Britain is sliding into recession after its economy shrank at its fastest rate since 1990 between July and September. Economists polled by Reuters last month predicted the economy will contract by 1.3 percent next year.

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