9 May 2001, 12:45 UK's Brown opens election campaign with full-employment pledge
LONDON (AFX) - Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown opened the
campaign for the June 7 election with a pledge that Labour would aim
for full employment should it win a second term.
In the government's first major speech since Prime Minister Tony
Blair named polling day yesterday, Brown trumpeted Labour's economic
performance and promised to make social spending a priority in the
likely event that Labour is re-elected.
He attacked as "irresponsible" the Conservative Party's promised
rolling programme of tax cuts, saying it would put the country's
economic stability at risk.
Brown said economic stability would be at the heart of a second
Labour government's programme.
Unlike Blair yesterday, the chancellor made no mention, implicit or
otherwise, of the question of the UK's participation in the euro.
The economy has to satisfy Brown's five tests before the government
will proceed with a referendum on the contentious issue.
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