Brown defiant at Birmingham cabinet meeting

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minster Gordon Brown issued a defiant rebuke to criticism of his leadership on Monday as he held Britain's first full cabinet meeting outside London since the 1920s.

Brown will tell minsters in Birmingham that he is confident that Britain's future is "bright" despite the economic downturn.

In a Labour Party document to be discussed by ministers, Brown will stress there are no "easy or quick answers" to the challenges facing Britain.

"It requires leadership, squaring up to hard truths, being open with the British people about the choices we face, and making tough decisions on priorities for public spending," he says.

Brown is under pressure to turn round the government's fortunes following a series of dire election results, with voters concerned about falling house prices, higher living costs and rising unemployment.

Opinion polls put David Cameron's Conservatives on course to win by a landslide the next general election, due by early 2010.

Last week former Labour cabinet minister Charles Clarke urged Brown to step down and call a leadership challenge if the government's performance did not improve.

Brown also faces a new winter of discontent with public sector unions threatening to strike in protest at below-inflation pay rises.