Brown insists he's not a bad premier

Mr Brown appeared on several radio and TV programmes to deny rumours that he may soon be shown the door by Labour MPs who are nervous over the crumbling economy.

He insisted that he was the "best-placed" person to lead Britain through a global economic downturn.

Mr Brown claimed that Britain is better placed to deal with worldwide recession than it was under the Conservative government of John Major in the early 1990s because of Labour's record on keeping inflation under control, acting to support the housing market and maintaining low unemployment.

But industrial union Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said: "These are tough times for working people and they are looking to their government to ensure they do not bear the brunt of the global economic downturn.

"Living costs are spiralling, wages are standing still and the vulnerable are struggling to make ends meet, yet, all the while, oil companies continue to pull in stratospheric profits.

"A one-off windfall tax on oil profits would be a fair, popular redistribution of wealth and a reminder of why a Labour government protects those in need."

Civil Service union PCS criticised government plans for further cuts in the number of public-service workers.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Rather than trying to outflank the Tories on public-sector cuts, the government should listen to its own workforce, which knows the damage that crude head-count reductions are having on the delivery of vital services such as tax and welfare delivery.

"In contradicting its own advice on so-called efficiency, the government is jeopardising the rest of the draft legislation by failing to recognise that you need civil and public servants to deliver it."

Referring to the premier's draft Queen's Speech proposals on Wednesday, Mr Serwotka added: "These latest remarks will further damage morale amongst a workforce already battered and bruised by job cuts and a public-sector pay policy that entrenches poverty pay by penalising some of the lowest paid in the public sector.

"The government needs to stop using the Civil Service as a political football and start listening to its own workforce."