'Judge me on my record', says Brown as polls show that people think Blair was the better PM

13 April 2012

• MoS poll puts the Tories five points ahead of Labour

• Labour would still be neck-and-neck if Blair were still PM

• Brown and Darling more unpopular than Major and Lamont

Gordon Brown has said that his record over the past decade as Chancellor showed he was able to take the "difficult decisions" which ensured stability for the UK through a series of international crises.

His bullish comments come after he was dealt a savage blow last night after a new poll showed that Labour would be neck-and-neck with the Tories if Tony Blair were still in No10.

In a BPIX poll for The Mail on Sunday, David Cameron's Conservatives are five points ahead of Labour. But when people were asked how they would vote if Mr Blair was still Prime Minister, both parties score 37.

Scroll down for more ...

Downcast: Gordon Brown looked morose with his team in Uganda yesterday

Come back Tony, all is forgiven: The former Prime Minister outside Downing Street

The Prime Minister who is today flying back to Britain after attending the Commonwealth summit in Africa told Sky News: "Difficulties will arise, of course, but the question is how we will deal with those difficulties.

"Just as we have dealt with the economic problems of the last 10 years and Britain has had stability and growth, so too over the next period of time, I think people will see us dealing with the problems - not shirking the long-term decisions, in fact making the long-term decisions in a way that is good for the British people."

Over his decade in the Treasury, Mr Brown said he had to deal with the impact on Britain of financial crisis in Asia, an American recession and the quadrupling of oil prices.

"We are having to deal with financial turbulence throughout the world," he said. "We had to deal in the summer with... floods, we had to deal with terrorism.

"I think you will find that people will see that when it comes to having to deal with these difficult issues, we are prepared to take the long-term decisions, we are prepared to take difficult decisions, even when it is easier to take the more comfortable decisions, and we are prepared to see things through."

However the poll showed that Tony Blair is seen as being more competent than his former Downing Street neighbour – and a better Prime Minister.

The results come at the end of a week that has seen Mr Brown's highly prized reputation for prudence badly dented by the Northern Rock bank scandal and the fiasco of the lost child-benefits data at HM Revenue & Customs.

Just as humiliating is the poll's finding that the Government crisis is on a par with John Major's "Black Wednesday" in 1992 when sterling crashed out of the EU's exchange rate mechanism. Mr Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling's ratings have fallen lower than those of Mr Major and then Chancellor Norman Lamont.

Thirty seven per cent say Mr Darling should resign, with 34 per cent calling for him to keep his job.

Being outscored by Mr Blair only five months after succeeding him is a bitter pill to swallow for Mr Brown, who was in Uganda yesterday for a Commonwealth heads of government meeting.

From the moment Mr Blair beat him to the Labour leadership in 1994, Mr Brown spent much of his time plotting to seize the Labour crown he thought should have been his.

Not long after finally bludgeoning Mr Blair into resigning in June, he took Labour into a ten-point lead over the Tories. But his indecision in the on-off November election imbroglio followed by the Northern Rock row and losing the child benefits details of 25million people have sent him into reverse.

Scroll down for more ...

The BPIX survey also shows the lost records affair may force him to abandon one of his flagship policies: ID cards. For years, despite opposition by the Tories, ID cards have enjoyed widespread public support as a means of combating terrorism, illegal immigration and crime.

But the BPIX poll shows 46 per cent of the population is now opposed to ID cards, with 43 per cent in favour. Tellingly, more than one in three says the lost data shambles has made them more opposed to the policy, with only one in ten stating it has made them more supportive.

According to the poll, nearly three million people have changed or intend to change their bank accounts, fearing the blunder means details such as their address and pin number could fall into the wrong hands.

Three per cent – equal to 750,000 people – said they had already changed their details. And an additional eight per cent, equal to two million – say they intend to change. And an overwhelming majority say the Government was wrong to lend £25billion – £900 per taxpayer – to Northern Rock.

BPIX interviewed 1,333 people online between Thursday and Saturday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

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