Brown Acts to Distance Himself From Blair, Iraq

Election Issue Avoided in Policy Speech

BOURNEMOUTH, England, Sept. 24 -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered an hour-long nationally televised speech Monday on issues from maternity leave to Darfur, but his policy proposals were largely overshadowed by speculation about whether he will call a snap general election in the coming weeks.

"It's everywhere; it's all people are talking about," said Roisin Pope, 26, a London public policy researcher attending the Labor Party's annual conference, where Brown delivered his first keynote speech as prime minister.

In tone and substance, delivering a serious speech focused predominantly on domestic issues, Brown seemed determined to distance himself from his predecessor, Tony Blair, whose close alliance with President Bush on the Iraq war had severely damaged Labor's public popularity.

Brown devoted just one line to Iraq, stressing Britain's commitment to maintaining security and helping with political reconciliation and reconstruction there and in Afghanistan. Brown is expected to appear in Parliament early next month to discuss the future of Britain's military role in Iraq, following widespread calls for speedy troop withdrawals.

"I don't think he wants to talk about Iraq," said Yasmin Qureshi, 49, a lawyer from Watford, near London. "I think he probably hadn't been for Iraq, but he'd never admit to that publicly."

Unlike Blair's charismatic oratory about Britain's role in world events, Brown seemed determined to refocus the public debate on local issues, including gun crime, drugs and breast cancer screening. He spoke of the "rising aspirations of the British people" and pledged to build more affordable houses and expand reading and math tutoring in public schools.

Brown, who took office three months ago, also used the speech to describe his life story to a nation still getting acquainted with him despite a decade of service as Britain's finance minister. Although Brown's face is as familiar as marmalade to most Britons, many people here know remarkably little about him.

Brown described the rugby injury he suffered at 16 that blinded him in the left eye, praising the care he received in Britain's National Health Service. "It is because of the NHS that I can see the words I read today," he said. It was an unusually personal revelation from a man who rarely discusses such details in public.

"Experiences like these have made me the person I am," Brown said. "Sometimes people say I am too serious and I fight too hard, and maybe that's true. But these experiences taught me what families all across Britain know: that things don't always come easy and there are things worth fighting for."

When discussing foreign affairs, Brown stressed human rights and condemned abuses in Burma and Zimbabwe. Of the Darfur region of Sudan, Brown said, "We will not rest until there is an end to the aerial bombings, a cease-fire, a lasting political settlement and justice for the women and children of Darfur."

Although Brown's speech was received enthusiastically by party members, the biggest buzz in this pretty seaside town in southern England was about what Brown didn't mention: a possible election.

The next general election must be held by May 2010, but Brown can dissolve Parliament at any time and call a snap election. That he focused his speech on local, bread-and-butter issues only fueled speculation that he is preparing the ground for an election.

Analysts said Brown is under pressure from some advisers to call an election as soon as next month to capitalize on his high popularity since taking over from Blair at the end of June. Recent polls of preferences for prime minister show Brown leading Conservative Party leader David Cameron 55 percent to 36 percent in a poll by the firm Populus and 54 to 21 percent in a poll by ICM.

Proponents said a snap election could give Brown the strong public mandate he lacks, having been selected as prime minister by the Labor Party on Blair's resignation rather than elected in national balloting. Those in favor also argue that Cameron and the Conservatives are particularly vulnerable at the moment, with their poll numbers sagging as public support for Brown is growing.

"I would prefer an early election," said Qureshi, who said she has been chosen by the party to run for a reliably safe Labor seat in the next election. "But I don't think he will do it. He finally has his dream job after all these years, and I think he's quite happy."

Others here also said Brown is too naturally cautious to gamble with a job he has coveted for at least a decade, since he and Blair rose to power together. If he called an election and lost, he would be one of the shortest-serving premiers in British history.