GORDON BROWN urged vot- Pages 37 to 41 ers to reject a Conservative party that had made all the “wrong choices” on the recession, as he told the worried Labour faithful: “We are not done yet.”

In a rousing conference speech, the Prime Minister argued the coming election would offer “the biggest choice for a generation” – and insisted Labour, despite its dismal poll ratings, could still win.

The most eye-catching announcement was the pledge of a National Care Service to allow elderly people to stay in their own homes, with free care, from next year, for the 350,000 in most critical need.

There were also promises of free childcare for 250,000 poorer two-year-olds – at the expense of better-off parents – and that all cancer patients would receive diagnostic test results within a week of seeing their GP.

But critics will argue that tax rises loom, as Mr Brown failed to explain how the many policy promises would be funded – at a time of a ballooning budget deficit and record debt.

Significantly, the Prime Minister made no attempt to reinvent his dour image, in a speech with few jokes, read from the traditional lectern and – in sharp contrast to last year’s conference – with few mentions of his personal story.

Instead, it was a speech to prove Labour had not run out of steam, but had fresh ideas to give the party a desperately- needed shot of adrenalin – even after 12 years in office.

The Prime Minister made one of his harshest attacks on Conservatives with “no hearts”, arguing they would “callously and coldly return us to the lost generation and cardboard cities of the Eighties”.

Repeatedly, he urged the public to quiz the Tories on their policies – on tax cuts for the rich, on the NHS, on crime and Europe – telling them: “Don’t take it from me.”

Mr Brown tried to tie David Cameron’s party to the “bankrupt ideology” exposed by the economic crash – although he has been accused of a failure to regulate the markets.

Claiming the credit for avoiding a “great Depression”, he turned on the Tories, saying: “They made the wrong choice on Northern Rock, the wrong choice on jobs and spending, the wrong choice on mortgage support, the wrong choice on working with Europe.

“A party that makes the wrong choices, on the most critical decisions it would have faced in government, should not be given the chance to be in government.”

There were a string of other pledges, including:

● Giving the Post Office extra banking services to protect surviving outlets;
● 10,000 skilled internships in small businesses and 10,000 green job placements;
● Giving every patient the right to see a family doctor in the evening, or at the weekend;
● Putting pregnant 16 and 17- year-olds into supervised hostels, instead of free council flats;
● A referendum within a year on switching to the “alternative vote” method, to ensure MPs have the support of a majority of local voters;
● New powers for voters to sack an MP found guilty of serious financial misconduct.

After outlining his agenda, Mr Brown told the public: “The election to come will not be about my future – it’s about your future, your job, your home, your children’s school, your hospital, your community.

■ Today’s edition of The Sun newspaper endorses the Conservatives to win the next election.

The paper’s front page headline reads “Labour’s lost it”. The Sun has backed Labour since 1997.