Brown plays down housing fears
Gordon Brown will today issue a confident message about the economy and play down fears of a housing crash.
The Chancellor, celebrating becoming the longest-serving incumbent at No 11 Downing Street, will insist the long-term prospects for Britain are the best in a generation.
Mr Brown was expected to use the high-profile speech to key City players at the Mansion House to calm nerves by restating his commitment to a stable economy.
It comes after dismay over remarks by
Bank of England governor Mervyn King who warned of the danger of falling property prices and hinted at more interest rate increases to come.
Business leaders and Labour MPs will be scrutinising Mr Brown's words for any sign he fears the economy is overheating and for clues about how high interest rates could rise.
Base rates have gone up four times in the past seven months and financial experts expect a rise from the current 4.5 per cent to more than five per cent by the end of the year.
Mr Brown's chief economic adviser Ed Balls played down fears in a rare speech yesterday when he predicted any fall in the property market would happen "in a steady way consistent with stability and sustained economic recovery".
The Mansion House speech comes a day after Mr Brown beat David Lloyd George's record as the longest-serving Chancellor, notching up 2,600 days in office.
