Polls didn't sway me, says Brown

Gordon Brown says he takes "full responsibility" for the snap election speculation - and denied poor opinion polls led him to decide against one. Pressed at his No 10 media briefing, he said he had considered an election but his "first instinct" had been to have more time to set out his vision.

He also denied "dithering", saying he always planned to make his decision at the end of the party conference season.

David Cameron has accused Mr Brown of "not being straight with the public". And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has called the episode "deeply damaging".

As he seeks to regain the political initiative, Mr Brown is currently making a Commons statement on Iraq. He has told MPs that troop numbers will be reduced, from 5,500 to 2,500 by next spring. He also said some Iraqis who have worked for British forces will be able to apply for financial aid to settle there, elsewhere in the region or "in agreed circumstances" in the UK. (BBC News)