Brown defended his economic policies today

Brown comes out fighting on deficit

Brown comes out fighting on deficit

By politics.co.uk staff

Gordon Brown came out fighting this afternoon after being faced with a hostile liaison committee which challenged him on the budget deficit.

MPs on the committee, which is made up of the chairmen of the various Commons select committees, pulled no punches in the last meeting before the general election.

“If we were to cut that deficit more quickly, the economy would suffer,” Mr Brown said.

“More jobs would lost, more businesses would go under.

“It’s not just a matter of political controversy. It’s a matter of jobs, it’s a matter of people.”

The prime minister was forced on to the defence on constitutional issues by the combination of public administration select committee chairman Tony Wright and Barry Sheerman, the Labour backbencher who has emerged as a key opponent of Mr Brown’s leadership.

“Some of your ideas haven’t worked out to be quite as effective as they might have been,” Mr Sheerman told Mr Brown, before asking him how many MPs damaged by expenses he believed would have been recalled by their electorate if voters had the power to do so.

“I cannot say because a number of cases are now being investigated by the police,” Mr Brown replied.

The prime minister acknowledged that the expenses scandal had influenced his decision to change his stance on electoral reform – what Mr Wright called a “conversion experience”.

“On the basis of [a 2007 review], not least in relation to parliament and its relation in the last year, it seemed to me we had to reach a conclusion on where we should go,” he explained.