But he added that voters would not forgive him and his government if it decided to 'bail out' of tackling the current economic uncertainty following a week of extraordinary events on world money markets.

Mr Brown, Mr Tony Blair's finance minister for 10 years, argued that he had the 'wisdom' and 'judgment' to deal with the turmoil, not the main opposition Conservatives who fresh opinion polls Sunday placed well ahead of Labour.

'I want to do better, obviously I always want to do better, my whole ethos, my school motto was 'I will try my utmost', I want to do better always,' Mr Brown told BBC television.

'When you have an international financial crisis, I happen to think I'm better prepared to deal with that than perhaps anyone.'

He said he was working with other international leaders including US President George W. Bush in a bid to establish international rules to regulate the financial system more tightly.

Asked whether he would respond to pressure from rebels for a change in leadership, Mr Brown indicated he had no intention of stepping down and quoted 19th century British author Joseph Conrad.

'The best way to deal with that storm is, he said, facing it, facing it. I think all the Cabinet and the government are of the same mind,' he said.

'We would be letting people down if suddenly we walked away and said 'we bail out'. What we do is we keep doing what is right for this country.'

Mr Brown faces an uphill struggle during Labour's five-day conference in Manchester, north-west England, which got under way on Saturday, that he should hang on to his job.

This month, four lawmakers who spoke against him were forced out of their junior government jobs and 12 declared their support for a leadership contest.

Labour faces a catastrophic defeat by the Conservatives at the next general election, which must be held by mid-2010, according to an Observer newspaper/PoliticsHome.com opinion poll published on Sunday.

It said the Tories were set to secure a majority of 146 and eight Cabinet ministers would lose their seats.

A second YouGov/Sunday Times poll of Labour members says that 60 per cent believe it cannot win an election under Mr Brown and makes Foreign Secretary Mr David Miliband favourite to take over.

Mr Miliband said on Saturday he thought now was not the right time for a leadership election but gave two major newspaper interviews focusing on his family and personality, fuelling speculation about his long-term ambitions.

In a further sign of opposition to Mr Brown, former home secretary Mr Charles Clarke, a prominent Mr Brown critic, urged an immediate leadership contest saying Mr Brown lacked 'strong leadership, clarity of purpose and public support'.

'Though prevarication and evasion may appear attractive at the moment, they are actually the most dangerous course of all,' Mr Clarke wrote in the Sunday Times.

Labour received a boost on Saturday when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, a personal friend of Mr Brown, donated one million pounds (S$2.57 million) to the party, which is nearly 18 million pounds in debt.

Mr Brown is due to give his main speech to the conference on Tuesday. -- AFP