Brown pledges to clamp down on inflation

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on Wednesday to clamp down on inflation to keep interest rates low.

"We will continue to bear down heavily on inflation so that we can keep interest rates low. That is the best thing we can do to help potential homeowners," Brown told parliament after announcing new measures to support the troubled housing market.

Inflation rose by half a percentage point to 3 percent in April, the biggest jump since 2002.

(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Katherine Baldwin)