LONDON - BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown will propose measures on Wednesday aimed at helping hard-pressed families and small firms through a recession and boosting his own chances of winning another term in office.

Mr Brown's slate for 2009, to be set out in the traditional speech to parliament by Queen Elizabeth, will focus on easing the pain of a sharp economic downturn by seeking to boost a sliding housing market and encouraging banks to lend to credit-starved firms.

'The political message will be: 'We are focusing on dealing with the threat of the recession. That's our central purpose as a government',' said Warwick University politics professor Wyn Grant.

The speech will stake out the ground on which Mr Brown wishes to fight the next general election, which he must call by mid-2010.

Mr Brown has won praise for his handling of the credit crunch, helping him cut the opposition Conservatives' lead in the opinion polls, but his Labour Party still lags by between one and 11 percentage points in the most recent surveys.

The government will announce a legally binding code of conduct for banks, which would allow regulators to impose huge fines on banks if they do not treat their customers fairly, the Independent newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The move is a response to complaints from small firms that banks have suddenly changed the conditions of loan agreements during the credit crunch.

Other new laws will aim to improve Britain's long-term competitiveness by reforming public services and welfare and strengthening education.

The Financial Times said Mr Brown would also press ahead with plans for more part-time working rights for 4.5 million staff despite demands from business leaders for the measure to be dropped.

Slide into recession
Britain is sliding into recession after its economy shrank at its fastest rate since 1990 between July and September.

Economists polled by Reuters last month predicted the economy will contract by 1.3 per cent next year.

Mr Brown's Labour government has announced plans to inject billions of borrowed pounds into the economy in an attempt to avert a slump that could cost the party any chance of winning a fourth consecutive election.

The crisis has forced the government to nationalise two banks and take stakes in several others but ministers remain concerned that banks have not freed up lending.

A Treasury source said there was likely to be a mention in the speech about compelling banks to lend, but it would be an intention rather than a policy with a definite timeframe.

Civil rights group Liberty said proposed new immigration rules would mean anyone who travelled outside Britain could be asked to prove their identity at any time after their return.

It alleged this was an attempt to introduce a compulsory identity card, controversial in Britain, through 'the back door'.

Mr Brown had already outlined many of his proposals for new legislation in May when he said the government would buy unsold new homes, either to rent out or to offer to first-time buyers.

Since then, Britain's economic prospects have taken a dive, prompting the Bank of England to slash interest rates by 1.5 points last month.

Some proposed measures Mr Brown set out in May, especially those seen as unfriendly to business, are likely to be dropped.

These include a proposed law to force communications companies to keep logs of Internet use for crime-fighting purposes, the Guardian said. The government may postpone plans to levy a tax on businesses to fund economic development, the newspaper said. -- REUTERS