Change and choice themes in key Brown speech

The coming general election will present Britain with its “biggest choice for a generation” between a Labour Party offering prosperity and hope and Conservatives who have “no hearts”, Gordon Brown said today, in his last conference speech before the poll expected in the spring.

In what was billed as a make-or-break speech, Mr Brown set out a wide-ranging programme for a fourth Labour term, including free personal care for elderly people with the greatest needs, new measures to crack down on anti-social behaviour, a referendum on voting reform and a new power for constituents to recall misbehaving MPs.