Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Brown urges Labour to build 'land of our dreams'

Brian Brady,Whitehall Editor
Sunday 02 March 2008 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Gordon Brown attempted to rally Labour activists in advance of his first electoral test as party leader yesterday, urging them to build "the Britain of our dreams".

In his first speech to the party since the decision not to call a general election last October, the Prime Minister conceded that he had endured several difficult months. But with only two months to go before elections to the Greater London Authority and English and Welsh local authorities, he used a speech to Labour's spring conference to insist that the party was ready to face the Tories at the polls.

"Imagine if together we build a Britain where what counts is not how high up you start, but how high you can reach," Mr Brown said, "a Britain where every parent of every child born today can watch them as they sleep and dare to believe that nothing is beyond them realising their potential."

Mr Brown's speech con-centrated on his record in "creating and sustaining a strong economy". But he pledged to refurbish or rebuild more than 300 schools within two years, to build three million homes and to ensure that half of GP surgeries are open for at least one evening or weekend session every week by next year.

In one of the most dramatic parts of the speech, at Birmingham's International Convention Centre, he underlined his commitment to eradicating child poverty, describing it as "the scar that demeans Britain".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in