LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Britain's prime minister, Gordon Brown, is expected to tell union members next week that the country's economy was on the 'road towards recovery', according to extracts of his speech released on Sunday.
Brown is due to tell the Trades Union Congress in Liverpool on Tuesday the recovery must not be put at risk with public spending cuts.
'Today we are on a road towards recovery -- but things are still fragile not automatic and the recovery needs to be nurtured,' he was due to say.
Recent bright economic data, including an increase in house prices and consumer confidence, and the FTSE-100 index of leading shares climbing above 5,000 for the first time in 11 months, have raised hopes Britain is emerging from recession.
But Brown will warn against public spending cuts, saying people's livelihoods and homes and savings 'are still hanging in the balance'.
He will urge the banks to continue lending to families and businesses and call on businesses to pursue a 'modern industrial policy'.
Brown will also say: 'We have to make tough choices in public spending and we will need the support of the labour movement in protecting the front line first'.
Brown, whose ruling Labour Party is behind in the opinion polls, suffered a further blow on Sunday when a poll said voters wanted public spending cuts rather than tax rises to help tackle the country's deficit, and another said voters trusted the Conservatives with public services more than Labour.
But on Sunday senior Labour figures came out in support of Brown, who has to hold a general election by June.
Interior Minister Alan Johnson told the BBC's Daily Politics show: 'I believe we have the absolute best leader of our party. There is no one else who can do the job as well as Gordon Brown has done.
'Look, we can't as a team stand in the middle of the pitch deciding who our captain should be while the other team runs rings around us.
'We have to unite behind our party, we have to defend our record, have to explain our vision.'
(Reporting by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Dan Lalor) Keywords: BRITAIN BROWN/ (avril.ormsby@reuters.com ; +44 20 7542 1816; Reuters Messaging: avril.ormsby.reuters.com@reuters.net ) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Brown is due to tell the Trades Union Congress in Liverpool on Tuesday the recovery must not be put at risk with public spending cuts.
'Today we are on a road towards recovery -- but things are still fragile not automatic and the recovery needs to be nurtured,' he was due to say.
Recent bright economic data, including an increase in house prices and consumer confidence, and the FTSE-100 index of leading shares climbing above 5,000 for the first time in 11 months, have raised hopes Britain is emerging from recession.
But Brown will warn against public spending cuts, saying people's livelihoods and homes and savings 'are still hanging in the balance'.
He will urge the banks to continue lending to families and businesses and call on businesses to pursue a 'modern industrial policy'.
Brown will also say: 'We have to make tough choices in public spending and we will need the support of the labour movement in protecting the front line first'.
Brown, whose ruling Labour Party is behind in the opinion polls, suffered a further blow on Sunday when a poll said voters wanted public spending cuts rather than tax rises to help tackle the country's deficit, and another said voters trusted the Conservatives with public services more than Labour.
But on Sunday senior Labour figures came out in support of Brown, who has to hold a general election by June.
Interior Minister Alan Johnson told the BBC's Daily Politics show: 'I believe we have the absolute best leader of our party. There is no one else who can do the job as well as Gordon Brown has done.
'Look, we can't as a team stand in the middle of the pitch deciding who our captain should be while the other team runs rings around us.
'We have to unite behind our party, we have to defend our record, have to explain our vision.'
(Reporting by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Dan Lalor) Keywords: BRITAIN BROWN/ (avril.ormsby@reuters.com ; +44 20 7542 1816; Reuters Messaging: avril.ormsby.reuters.com@reuters.net ) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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