British prime minister Gordon Brown defended his handling of the economy after his Labour government received a double dose of bad news in opinion polls today that saw its popularity plunging.
The polls showed that Mr Brown, who took over from Tony Blair in June after 10 years as Chancellor, had been hurt by a banking debacle and Britain's biggest ever identity fraud crisis.
Mr Brown, who just two months ago had been contemplating calling an election two years earlier than he needed to, urged disillusioned voters to take a long-term view.
"You always have events to deal with. Sometimes these are decisions that you have to make where you have to react to events in other parts of the world or events over which you have no control yourself," Mr Brown said.
"The question at the end of the day is that people should take a long-term view of what you are trying to achieve," Mr Brown told BBC Television at the Commonwealth summit he is attending in Uganda.
Two months ago, Mr Brown's Labour Party enjoyed a 12 percentage point lead over the Conservatives.
That was wiped out today in a News of the Worldopinion poll -- they were both running neck and neck on 38 per cent.
The poll also gave Conservative leader David Cameron an eight percentage point lead over the prime minister - he was on 46 percent compared to 38 per cent for Mr Brown.