"Where I've made mistakes I'll put my hand up and try to put them right. So what happened with 10p stung me because it really hurt that suddenly people felt I wasn't on the side of people on middle and modest incomes - because on the side of hard-working families is the only place I've ever wanted to be. And from now on it's the only place I ever will be."

Amid speculation that some cabinet ministers are prepared to force Brown from office by threatening to resign, the prime minister issued a stern message of the dangers of disunity. "The British people would not forgive us if at this time we looked inwards to the affairs of just our party when our duty is to the interests of our country. The people of Britain would never forget if we failed to put them first - and, friends, they'd be right."