Brown rallies party with social justice call

By Sumeet Desai and David Clarke

BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown, after five months of suffering in the polls, called on voters on Saturday to back a Labour government committed to improving public services and equal opportunities.

Facing his first electoral test in May at local government polls, Brown drew a line between his party and the opposition Conservatives, accusing them of planning to cut education and health budgets to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

"Imagine if together we build a Britain where what counts is not how high up you start but how high you can reach," he told cheering party activists. "A Britain where every parent of every child born today can watch them as they sleep and dare to believe that nothing is beyond them realising their potential."

Brown built a huge lead in opinion polls when he replaced Tony Blair last June, but this vanished after the public punished the prime minister for perceived dithering over calling an election and Britain's first bank run in more than 140 years.

But after a torrid period and the forced nationalisation of Britain's fifth-biggest mortgage lender Northern Rock last month, Brown's ratings have at least stabilised. He looked relaxed and confident on Saturday, strutting the stage as he answered questions without notes.

A YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph on Saturday showed support for the Conservatives falling to 40 percent and Labour steady at 33 percent. Analysts said this would not be enough to give the Conservatives a majority in parliament.

Hence, neither main party is taking anything for granted and are scrapping over the political centre ground.

The YouGov poll showed that when asked which party leader would make the best prime minister, nearly 40 percent said they did not know and there was little difference between Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron.