Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” - PM

The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-breaker, Alan Turing, recognising the “appalling” way he was treated for being gay.

Alan Turing, a mathematician most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration.

Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10 website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.

Read the statement

2009 has been a year of deep reflection - a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate - by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices - that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.

Gordon Brown

PM welcomes Zardari to Number 10

The PM has welcomed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Number 10 for talks on a range of issues including counter-terrorism, development and education.

Following today’s meeting a Downing Street spokesman said that security in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained a high priority for both governments. The Prime Minister also reiterated the UK’s pledge to invest £665 million over four years in programmes aimed at tackling the root causes of extremism.

Following the meeting a Downing Street spokesman said:

“The Prime Minister and the President agreed the need to tackle the underlying causes of extremism. The Prime Minister reiterated our support for Pakistani efforts and repeated the UK’s commitment, £665 million over four years. Our development programme in Pakistan is our second largest in the world; we aim to spend around half of this in the critical border areas.

“This requires a comprehensive approach including better governance, economic development such as a single financing mechanism, and when necessary appropriate military pressure.

“There was discussion and support expressed for our education programme. A programme announced back in April that focuses on the border area of Pakistan. In particular we announced that we will provide textbooks in the border areas for school children and that we would support 300,000 girls from poor families attending secondary school. More does need to be done and we have asked our international partners to step up and do more and follow up on the Tokyo Donors’ Conference which delivered $5 billion of pledges over the next two years.”

PM backs Twitter NHS support

The Prime Minister has added his voice to a Twitter campaign supporting the NHS.

Many Twitter users have united behind the message “we love the NHS”, adding personal messages of support for the health service via the popular social networking site.

Gordon Brown provided his backing via Downing Street’s official Twitter account with his own message which read:

“The NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there.”

Health Secretary Andy Burnham added that he was over the moon about the strong support for the NHS on Twitter, adding it was an “institution I will defend to my dying day”.

Gordon Brown calls for commemoration of troops

The Prime Minister has said it is time to commemorate the British troops who have died in Afghanistan as he signaled an end to the first phase of Operation Panther’s Claw.

Speaking from Scotland, Gordon Brown praised soldiers who have taken part in the offensive to push back the Taliban.

He acknowledged that it had been a difficult time for the troops but said they had succeeded in protecting thousands of local civilians and people in Britain.

The PM said:

“Now that Operation Panther’s Claw has shown that it can bring success and the first phase of that operation is over, it’s time to commemorate all those soldiers who have given their lives and to thank all our British forces for the determination and professionalism and courage that they’ve shown.

“What we have actually done is make land secure for about 100,000 people. What we’ve done is push back the Taliban - and what we’ve done also is to start to break that chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain. And I’m very proud of what our forces have achieved over the last few weeks - indeed for all the time they’ve been in Afghanistan.”

He said that Britain’s strategy in Afghanistan was still to undertake military offensives to remove insurgents and to build up local institutions to allow the Afghans to take control of their own affairs.

PM praises “groundbreaking” swine flu service

A self-care service to help people with swine flu symptoms is “breaking new ground”, the Prime Minister has said.

The National Pandemic Flu Service, consisting of a new dedicated website and phone line, allows people to check their symptoms and, if necessary, get a unique number to allow them access to antivirals from a collection point.

* Visit the National Pandemic Flu Service website

Gordon Brown said the service was already working well to help people get advice as he met NHS staff in London today to hear how the capital is dealing with the outbreak.

He said:

“[The National Pandemic Flu Service] is the first in the world. We are breaking new ground here, but we have been preparing for this for more than two years and I think the evidence is that people are responding to the scheme… What I want to do is ensure that people get the best advice, get it as quickly as possible, are able to get the antivirals when they need them and are reassured.”

The Prime Minister added that he hoped the service would take some of the burden off GPs and hospitals, which have been seeing rising numbers of people reporting symptoms, and he praised NHS staff for their response to the outbreak.

He added:

“I don’t know if any health service in the world could do what we have been able to do so quickly as a result of efforts of all the staff.”

Read advice about swine flu from Directgov

Previous story: Government to increase swine flu support

Tags: National Pandemic Flu Service, NHS, swine flu

Police awarded for bravery

The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the dedication of police in keeping the public safe, during a reception to mark the annual Police Bravery Awards.

Four police officers were voted the bravest officers in England and Wales.

Metropolitan Police officers PS Stephen Hayter, PC Barry Leban, PC Richard Cousins and PC Michael Carroll won the award after a regular stop and search turned into a brutal gun attack in North London.

Gordon and Sarah Brown and Home Secretary Alan Johnson hosted a reception in the Downing Street garden for 60 officers and their partners.

The Prime Minister said the public value everything “our brave officers have done”.

“”It is a privilege to welcome you here. This is our chance to thank you for all you do for the security of the British public.”

Police Federation Chairman for England and Wales Paul McKeever said the officers are all deserving winners.

“We are extremely proud of their dedication to protecting us all from harm and threat. Thanks to these officers and their colleagues up and down the country, we can all feel safer on the streets and in our homes.”

The G8 Summit, from the PM

I have just returned from three days in Italy attending a successful G8 Summit and wanted to update you on some of the historic agreements we reached.

First, however, I must say how moved I was by the decision to hold the G8 in L'Aquila to show solidarity with the population of the region, which as you'll remember was severely hit by an earthquake in April.

At the summit, we discussed many issues, including the interrelated challenges of the economic crisis, poverty and climate change.

Our major breakthrough was agreement for the first time to cap global temperature rises by 2°C and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

This important deal, agreed on the first day, paves the way for a wider global agreement at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

Britain and the other major developed nations also pledged £12 billion for efforts to boost food supplies in the face of a looming hunger emergency.

The investment will fund a three-year initiative to help poorer nations develop their own agriculture, enabling them to become self-sufficient.

As President Obama said, the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it's no longer needed.

We have also agreed to a call from President Obama to hold talks in Washington next spring which could lead to countries reducing their nuclear arsenals.

Only collective action like this can increase the pressure on those states determined to develop nuclear weapons, such as Iran and North Korea.

As well as attending the main sessions at the summit, I also met with many important world leaders, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon where we discussed the situation in Burma.

I hope you'll agree that these results prove that the world's major economies can make real achievements for everyone when we come together.

Gordon Brown

$20bn food aid pledge at G8 conclusion

G8 leaders have pledged $20billion to boost food supplies to poorer nations following the final day of discussions at the summit in L’Aquila, Italy.

The investment, which rose from an expected figure of $15 billion, will help countries develop their own agriculture.

At a press conference following the conclusion of the three-day summit, Gordon Brown said it was “unacceptable” that some people in the world are going hungry.

He said:

“We agreed today to the urgent need for decisive action to free humankind from hunger and poverty and we want to make sure in tomorrow’s world that no-one will go hungry any more… I believe not only does Africa have a capacity to feed itself if things are done right, but it can in future also play a major part in feeding the world.”

Mr Brown said that stabilising food supplies in Africa will help to avoid food security problems around the rest of the world. He added that Britain would contribute $1.8 billion towards the programme.

The Prime Minister told reporters that the G8 had also agreed to take forward economic measures agreed at the G20 in London earlier this year, calling on countries to ensure more bank lending, to reject protectionism and to invest in recovery.

He said:

“The G8 has heard loud and clear a second wake-up call on the world economy. It’s a call that we avoid complacency, it’s a call that we accelerate progress on the agreements that we reached at the G20 in London.”

Earlier today, Mr Brown met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - the first time the two leaders have met.

During their 40-minute discussion, they covered topics such as Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who is appealing against his conviction and seeking to return to Libya, and British child Nadia Fawzi, who was abducted by her Libyan father two years ago. Oil prices and international finance for Africa were also on the agenda.

While Mr Brown took part in the summit, his wife Sarah and the other G8 spouses learnt more about the UN World Food Programme’s Red Cup project.

Building Britain's Future

I have today published the Government’s plan for Building Britain’s Future. It is a radical vision for a fairer, stronger and more prosperous society for all.

We have made enormous strides, driving up standards of health care and education; cutting crime and poverty; and harnessing Britain’s economic potential.

The country has been transformed and I am proud that Britain is now a better place to live.

But I am determined that in this time of profound change, driven by the global economic downturn and the crisis of trust in our political system, the Government will work even harder for you.

We plan to make public services more accountable: access to a cancer specialist within two weeks, free health-checks for those aged 40-74 and patients entitled to hospital treatment within 18 weeks.

Parents will be guaranteed an education tailored to their child, with a personal tutor for every secondary school pupil and catch up tuition, including one-to-one, for those who need it.

And residents will have the right to hold the police to account at monthly beat meetings, get a say on CCTV and vote on how offenders pay back the community.

All these commitments will come with proper systems of redress if they are not met.

The severe global downturn has threatened our jobs and homes here in the UK, leaving many of you understandably anxious about the future for you and your children.

We will not make the same mistakes of past recessions by losing another generation to work. This is a price we are not prepared to pay. From next spring everyone under 25 who has been out of work for a year will be guaranteed a job, training or work experience place. And they will have to take that offer.

From September every 16 and 17 year old will receive an offer of a school or college place or an apprenticeship.

Carefully targeted investment of an extra £1.5 billion over the next two years will also deliver an additional 20,000 new affordable homes and create 45,000 jobs. And new guidance will allow local authorities more flexibility on how they allocate council houses.

We have already started the process of cleaning up politics and more action will follow to restore confidence in our democratic institutions.
But today is just the start.

And we want to know your ideas on how we build a better future for Britain – one that’s fairer, more prosperous and responsible. I look forward to hearing from you.

Government sets out “Road to Copenhagen”

World leaders must agree to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2050 when they meet at the Copenhagen climate conference in December, the Government has said.

The Prime Minister said that the clock is ticking and a dramatic cut in emissions levels over the next four decades will be necessary to keep global average temperature increases to two degrees centigrade or less.

The target is one of the goals set out today in the Road to Copenhagen - the Government’s manifesto for the conference.

Gordon Brown said there were two targets nations must agree on. The first is to ensure global emissions peak by 2020 and are cut by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The second is that developed countries must agree to reduce their emissions by 80% to allow developing countries room for growth.

The PM said:

“An ambitious agreement in Copenhagen is certainly achievable. And yet it remains far from certain. We cannot allow this to drift - when every year of delay retards investment, locks us into a higher emissions pathway, worsens the impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable, and increases the costs of eventual reduction.

“Copenhagen is twenty-three weeks away. When historians look back on this critical moment, let them say, not that we were the generation that failed our children; but that we had the courage, and the will, to succeed.”

The Prime Minister and Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband visited London Zoo this morning to launch the manifesto.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Brown pledged that the UK will play its part in providing financial aid for climate mitigation in the developing world, and urged countries to work together on a global figure of around $100 billion per year by 2020.

He also called for aviation and maritime emissions to be part of the Copenhagen agreement, and for forestry to become part of the carbon trading market in a bid to prevent deforestation.

Government boosts support for e-learning

The Open University is to receive an extra £12 million in funding to develop its role as a national leader in distance learning, the Prime Minister has said.

Visit the Open University website

Former students, tutors and the Vice Chancellor of the UK’s largest higher education institute attended a reception at Downing Street to mark the Open University’s 40th anniversary.

Gordon Brown said the Open University has embraced technology, which has in turn helped to open up higher education to more people.

“Our new digital world, and in particular the internet, has dramatically expanded the number of ways that universities can teach their students, helping them to reach people in much more flexible ways, and giving students on the other side of the world a chance to experience the same high quality education enjoyed by students here in Britain.”

This week the Government announced a £20 million Open Learning Innovation fund to promote creative online learning, and a taskforce of experts to examine how to expand e-learning and access to online course materials.

The taskforce will include the next Open University Vice Chancellor, Martin Bean, as well as the British Library, the British Council, Microsoft, Apple and the BBC.

The Open University was established in 1969 and has more than 200,000 students.

PM pledges continued investment in public services

Gordon Brown has visited an East London school to see the impact of public services on communities as he pledged to continue improving and investing in frontline services.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary Alan Johnson met teachers, police officers and youth workers at Stepney Green school in Tower Hamlets, East London, to hear how they are working together to stop young people becoming involved in drugs.

The initiative is one example of the work being done by neighbourhood police - one area of public services which has been expanded as part of the Government’s drive to invest in the sector.

The PM said:

“We have just been expanding neighbourhood policing to every area of the country. We will continue to do it. We want people to be safer. Neighbourhood policing will be concentrated on the problems of burglary and anti social behaviour. We cannot see a cut - we will not allow it to be cut.”

There are now 3,600 neighbourhood policing teams across the country. The Government said that, in conjunction with Safer Schools Partnerships, they are helping to tackle youth crime issues.

Message from the PM on changes to the Cabinet

This government will never stop fighting for ordinary people in these extraordinary times.

Today I have reshaped the government around three clear priorities - cleaning up politics, getting through this downturn fairly and giving people greater control over their public services.

We need a clean up of our politics in this country. Politicians must serve the public, and not themselves. We will act quickly to bring in an independent regulator to scrutinise the behaviour of our MPs. We will introduce a tough, legally binding code of conduct for MPs. In addition every single expense claim made by MPs of all parties over the last four years will be scrutinised by an independent audit panel. But we must go further and look at issues about how we elect our MPs and how we open up all public bodies to the closest public scrutiny.

We will continue to intervene decisively on the economy. When people are suffering you cannot have a "do nothing" approach to the recession. You cannot cut your way out of recession, you can only grow your way out. And in the coming weeks we will outline our plan to build Britain's future. A plan for building new sources of growth, new jobs, new homes and new infrastructure.

Finally, we can only build Britain's future if we have not only a strong economy but good public services that can meet the challenges of the future. So the third leg of our strategy for building Britain's future is the next stage of reform in public services, a reform driven by one central principle that everyone and not a privileged few have a fair chance to succeed. And this will depend crucially on putting much greater power in the hands of patients and parents.

I have chosen a determined and strong Cabinet that will fight hard for British people in these difficult times and deliver upon these three crucial priorities.

I would be interested in hearing your views on these priorities and the changes we have made.

Gordon Brown

Government to move forward on constitutional renewal

The Prime Minister and Government have outlined a framework for constitutional renewal that aims to reverse the apparent breakdown in trust in the political process.

At a Downing Street meeting on Tuesday, the Cabinet agreed to establish a National Democratic Renewal Council (NDRC) and to introduce new provisions to the Constitutional Renewal Bill that will establish a new code of conduct for MPs and a new Parliamentary Standards Authority to supervise MPs’ pay and expenses. The Bill is to go before Parliament by the end of the current Parliamentary session in July.

The Government will take a number of further steps, namely:

• Opening up for debate wider questions about political and constitutional reform
• Arranging cross-party talks on the modernisation of Parliament and issues such as the role of select committees and the ability of the public to petition Parliament and trigger debates.
• Conducting a wide-ranging debate throughout the country, via the NDRC, on key reform issues and reporting on the public’s priorities in the autumn.

Briefing journalists on the Constitutional Renewal plans on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said the Government wished to legislate “as soon as possible” on the issues at hand. The Prime Minister is expected to announce further details next week.

Gurkhas' settlement rights

For many years, the Brigade of Gurkhas have shown bravery, commitment and dedication in serving this country, and continue to do so on operations today.

This Government has done more for Gurkhas than any other. It was the first Government to grant settlement to Gurkhas and the first to equalise pay and pensions, with over 6,000 former Gurkhas and their families already given the right to live in the UK. In April we took steps to increase the number of Gurkhas eligible to come to this country by 4,000 or, including families, 10,000 people.

The House of Commons has now expressed a clear view that all Gurkhas should be entitled to settle in the United Kingdom if that is what they wish.

This Government respects the will of the House of Commons and recognises the strong feeling and public support for this cause. Consequently, we have announced today that all former Gurkhas who served for longer than four years will be eligible to apply for settlement in the United Kingdom. They will also be entitled to bring their spouses and dependent minor children. There will be no time limit on applications.

This scheme recognises the unique nature of the service given to the UK by the Brigade of Gurkhas and is offered to them on an exceptional basis.

We believe that in announcing the new policy today, we have met their concerns and those of Parliament.

Gordon Brown

Crossrail is "a signal of faith in the future"

A major construction project to build a high-speed railway line through London is a signal of faith in the future of the UK’s economy, the Prime Minister has said.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the start of construction work on Crossrail, Gordon Brown praised the partnership between the private and public sectors that is making the scheme possible.

The Crossrail project aims to provide a high-speed railway line through London, stretching from Berkshire in the west to Essex in the east.

The Prime Minister and Transport Minister Lord Adonis were among the guests at the ceremony on Friday morning at Canary Wharf, where the first Crossrail station will be constructed.

The PM said:

“Today we are sending a message that our faith in the future is such that today, in the midst of a downturn, we are starting the biggest infrastructure project in this country - one that will serve not just London, but as a message to the whole world that we will invest in this downturn and we will emerge a stronger country as a result.”

Mr Brown added that the project was an important example of a public and private sector partnership.

BAA, Canary Wharf Group and the Corporation of London will contribute hundreds of millions of pounds towards the project, while Government and Transport for London have set up a £15.9 billion funding package to cover the costs of Crossrail.

When it is completed in 2017, the railway will run for 118km, including 21.5km of new underground tunnels through central London, and is expected to bring 1.5 million people within 60 minutes’ commute of London’s major business districts.

Parents set to have more say on schools

Parents will be given more say in the way their children’s schools are run under Government proposals.

The Prime Minister has outlined plans for all schools to report online to parents by 2012 and for local authorities to be required to act if there is widespread parental dissatisfaction with schooling in the area.

He added that schools and teaching staff need to be give more freedom - a plan which will be explained further in an upcoming White Paper.

Speaking at Prendergast School in south London, Gordon Brown said he believed reform of the education system is vital as education will be key to Britain’s future prosperity.

The PM said:

“If Britain is second in education and skills, we can never be first in business. And if we come second in business our young people will not have the opportunities and chances in life we wish for them.

“The countries that will succeed in this increasingly skilled global economy are those that are investing heavily - as we are - in education and training, developing support for the all important early years of a child’s life, and ensuring that more of their young people take up the opportunities that higher education offers.”

He rejected the idea of allowing a market to develop in education, arguing that it would not raise standards for all, and dismissed the idea of more central government control, which Mr Brown said would “stifle innovation”.

The Prime Minister also argued that the skills and talents of all children - regardless of their academic level - should be recognised.

Visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp

I have just returned from my first visit to Poland as Prime Minister and while there I visited Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp.

Now that I have done so, I have a new understanding of the burden of memory. Distance from the Holocaust in time and geography does not lessen but increase our obligation to remember and to resist.

The murder of six million Jews and countless Roma, Poles and other Eastern Europeans, gay men and lesbians, trade unionists, disabled people and political and religious opponents of the Nazis is a terrible indictment not only of the absolute evil of the perpetrators, but of the moral blindness of all those who looked aside.

That is why we can never pass by on the other side when we see another suffer - each and every instance of injustice and persecution and discrimination calls on us not to stand by, but to stand up.

British people stood up against the evils of fascism with a bravery and resilience unsurpassed in other nations and I am incredibly proud to announce today a new award of recognition for the extraordinary acts of courage of a number of British citizens who rescued others from the evils of the Holocaust.

Their families and the Holocaust Educational Trust have been campaigning to bring these British Holocaust heroes to public attention and I am delighted that we will be able to honour their sacrifice and service in this way.

Gordon Brown

PM aims to get all young people helping communities

The Prime Minister has spoken of his ambition to see every young person getting involved in and making a difference to their communities.

In a podcast released on the Number 10 website, the PM set out a number of key steps towards encouraging “a new era of respect and responsibility”.

He announced a new programme for 16 to 19-year-olds starting this September that will see 20,000 school leavers a year undertake full time community service alongside training.

The Government will give “extensive new support” to all schools to provide service opportunities for pupils, while setting up a series of pilots aimed at testing ways to increase community service participation within a given area.

Mr Brown said he believed “every young person can make a difference” by becoming more involved in their communities.

“I want everyone to have this opportunity and I want everyone to get involved. I want serving your community to become a normal part of growing up in every community because everyone has something unique to give.”

Listen to the Prime Minister’s podcast about youth community service

Read a transcript of the podcast

Number 10: On the Budget

Today's Budget builds on the action we have already taken to save the banks, protect savers and to restore lending. We have taken steps to boost the economy by putting money in people's pockets, bringing forward investment and supporting businesses and jobs.

Our priority now is to continue to deliver real help now for families and businesses to help them through the downturn and to make sure that people, especially young people, get quickly back into work.

Secondly, we will support investment in the growth industries of the future on which Britain's success will be built. You can only invest and grow your way out of recession; you cannot cut your way out of recession. We will invest smartly, targeting our resources at those industries and sectors best placed to provide the jobs of the future - the very foundation of our future growth and prosperity.

The action we've already taken will protect half a million jobs in Britain and at the heart of this budget is a commitment to stop long term unemployment taking hold - especially among young people. That's why we are guaranteeing that everyone under the age of 25 who has been out of work for 12 months will be offered a job. In the 1980s a whole generation of young people were lost to work. We must make sure that this never happens again.

Pensioners are also feeling the impact of the economic downturn. So we have increased help - a higher winter fuel payment, worth £250 for over 60s and £400 for the over eighties, for another year. Many pensioners rely on their savings for extra income. So we have increased the help for those in retirement with modest savings through pension credit. And we are increasing the cash limit for tax-free ISAs.

We're helping business too because its business that creates jobs and wealth. So there is targeted support for business, to help them now and prepare for the recovery.

We want to help them build on our strengths, investing in the green and growth industries of the future, creating new jobs and helping secure our country's success.

Despite all the difficulties, I am determined we will get through this recession and confident that - together - we can go forward and build a better Britain.

Gordon Brown