No rolling over for defiant Brown
A defiant Gordon Brown came out fighting at the start of the Labour Party conference insisting: I will not roll over.
A defiant Gordon Brown came out fighting at the start of the Labour Party conference insisting: I will not roll over.
As cabinet ministers warned Labour could be heading for a crushing defeat in the next General Election - and faced an uphill battle to derail the Conservatives from their robust march towards power - the Prime Minister said it was not in his nature to throw in the towel and give-up.
Mr Brown, who lost his sight in one eye in a rugby accident as a young man, said: "I, in my life have had to fight for everything I've got.
"I've had to fight through all kinds of difficulties.
"A setback can either be a challenge or you can roll over. I do not roll over."
But his attempt to launch what has been dubbed "Operation Fightback" was overshadowed by a row with the BBC after he was forced to deny he was on anti-depressants or prescription painkillers in an interview.
The PM was challenged on the issue by TV interviewer Andrew Marr after widespread rumours that he was planning to quit Number 10 on health grounds before the next election.
Asked if he was someone who used pills to help him cope with the pressures of office, a stony-faced Mr Brown insisted he was physically and mentally fit to lead the party to the polls and replied: "No. I think this is the sort of questioning which is all too often entering the lexicon of British politics."