Gordon Brown utters the 'R' word
Updated on 22 October 2008
Gordon Brown has been forced to confess at the dispatch box that Britain is going into recession.
For the first time, the R word from the prime minister's own lips, as Gordon Brown told the Commons that Britain was heading for a recession.
In a fierce clash with David Cameron over the state of the economy, he said no country could insulate itself from the global turmoil.
Mr Brown insisted he would focus on helping families and small businesses, but the Conservative leader challenged him to accept blame for the current crisis.
Brown said:
"The governor of the Bank of the England said last night that not since the first world war has the international banking system been so close to collapse. And I agree with him.
"Having taken action on the banking system, we must now take action on the global financial recession which is likely to cause recession in America, France, Italy, Germany and Japan, and because no country can insulate itself from it, from Britain too."
