Gordon Brown monthly press conference

Gordon Brown monthly press conference; ENGLAND: London: Downing Street: INT *** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY *** Gordon Brown MP (Prime Minister) press conference SOT - Good morning. I apologise for the change of time for this normal press conference but I think you all know we are commemorating Armistice Day today. Our thoughts are with those people who have given their lives to our country, and the families of those who are in our Services. - Friday’s Washington Economic Conference that I will attend with the Chancellor, has the power to be a key moment for the world economy. My first priority is in ensuring that there is real help in tough times for hard-pressed families, mortgage holders and businesses right across the country. But because this is a global crisis, British people will benefit best if the measures we take nationally are complemented, and their benefits enhanced by measures that are taken right across the world. - I have now met or talked to the majority of the participants in Saturday’s summit about our plans. I have also talked to President Bush, President-elect Obama and yesterday Vice-President Biden. I now believe that five actions should guide the world’s response. - First, we need monetary and fiscal policy co-ordination across the world. Facing a global problem of falling demand and fragile confidence, we need a co-operative global response. Whilst some countries from America to Germany and including Britain, are already acting, a broad concerted economic response is now urgent. The benefit of fiscal action in one country will be all the greater in that country if other countries act at the same time. - The second priority is that we agree a timetable for measures that will clean up the failings in our banking system. We know that financial institutions have fallen short: irresponsible risk-taking, incompetent risk management, and inadequate due diligence through the opacity of products and undisclosed off-balance-sheet activit...