GORDON Brown  faced down critics of his leadership by telling Labour activists that he is the right man to lead Britain through difficult economic times and deliver a better future.

In his crucial speech to the party's annual conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister unveiled plans to scrap prescription charges for cancer patients and give elderly people help to stay in their homes and escape the costs of going into care.

And he told delegates that his vision of a "fair society" is "a cause worth fighting for."

Mr Brown's speech was being seen as a make-or-break moment for the beleaguered premier, with his supporters hoping his announcement of dramatic policy initiatives will quell internal discontent about his leadership and persuade voters that the Government is taking positive action to help them with the problems they face.

In a speech described by aides as "bullish", Mr Brown admitted he had made mistakes, particularly over the abolition of the 10p starting rate of income tax, and promised to learn from them.

But he insisted he has the right long-term vision for the country and his experience and judgment make him the right person to lead Britain through the current financial turmoil.

He also defended himself against criticism of his personal style, insisting he was right to present himself as he is and right not to allow his family to be used to promote his political message.

Standing before a backdrop bearing the slogan 'Winning the fight for Britain's future', Mr Brown set out a range of plans to help voters with issues ranging from prescription charges to care for the elderly, free nursery education for two-year-olds and linking disadvantaged schoolchildren up to the internet.

250,000 won't pay prescription charges

He told delegates that over the next year, prescription charges for all NHS drugs will be abolished for cancer patients in England, with the eventual aim of phasing out the £7.10 charge for all patients with long-term conditions. The move immediately takes around 250,000 people out of prescription charges, rising to five million in the longer term.

Mr Brown said: "Because we know that almost every British family has been touched by cancer, (Health Secretary) Alan Johnson and I know we must do more to relieve the financial worry that so often goes alongside the heartache, so our plan is next year to abolish all prescription charges for everyone with cancer.

"And this is not the limit of our commitment to a fair NHS. In the long term, as the NHS generates cash savings in its drugs budget, we will plough them back into abolishing charges for all patients with long-term conditions."

The change is estimated to cost £20 million over the next year, rising to £300 million a year over the long term as more conditions are covered, and is expected to save many patients £100 a year or more. It follows an announcement by the Scottish Government that it plans to phase out all prescription charges by 2011. Prescriptions are already free in Wales.

The cost of free prescriptions in England will be covered by savings made in the NHS budget by switching from branded to generic drugs and increased use of bulk-buying.

Care for pensioners

Mr Brown signalled plans to offer "dignity and hope" to pensioners who are currently forced to sell their homes to pay for social care - a system he earlier this week conceded was "unfair and unsustainable".

No details of the help on offer are being announced until around the time of the Queen's Speech this autumn, but it is expected to involve assisting people to stay in their own homes, rather than paying for social care, which ministers believe would be unaffordable.

"In a fair society, the fact that older people are living longer should be a blessing for their families, not a burden," said the Prime Minister.

"No-one should live in fear of their old age because they worry their social care will impose heavy financial burdens or threaten the family home.

"The generation that rebuilt Britain from the ashes of the war deserves better.

"So Alan Johnson and I will bring forward new plans to help people to stay longer in their own homes and provide greater protection against the costs of care - dignity and hope for everyone in their later years."

Mr Brown, who was working on the text of his speech into the final hours before taking to the stage, confirmed plans to provide free part-time nursery care for all two-year-olds, at an estimated cost of £1 billion, and a £300 million scheme to provide £700 vouchers to pay for broadband access, software and computers to the 1.4 million schoolchildren who cannot link up to the internet at home.

And he rejected claims that Labour had run out of steam after 11 years in power.

"When people say in these tough times there is nothing we can do, there is nothing higher to aim for, no great causes left worth fighting for, my reply is that our ideas are the ideas that will realise the hopes of families for a better future," he said.

"Providing free nursery care for more children who need it is a cause worth fighting for. Providing better social care for older people is a cause worth fighting for. Delivering excellence in every single school is a cause worth fighting for.

"Universal check-ups and new help to fight cancer, these are causes worth fighting for. This is the future we are fighting for."

'All the criticism, it's all worth it if I make life better for one child, one family, one community'

Mr Brown made only oblique references to the speculation over his leadership and Labour's terrible recent poll ratings, telling delegates he recognised that some of them had concerns about the party's future and believed that "the way to deal with tough times is to face them down".

He said: "I know what I believe. I know who I am. I know what I want to do in this job.

"And I know that the way to deal with tough times is to face them down. Stay true to your beliefs.

"Understand that all the attacks, all the polls, all the headlines, all the criticism, it's all worth it if, in doing this job, I make life better for one child, one family, one community."

And he added: "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.

"I want to give the people of this country an unconditional assurance - no ifs, not buts, no small print - my unwavering focus is taking this country through the challenging economic circumstances we face and building the fair society of the future."

He warned delegates against internal party feuding: "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 would be right."

'My children aren't props'

In a deeply personal opening to his speech, the Prime Minister, said he wanted to give delegates and voters a better idea of who he was as an individual.

But he insisted he did not come into politics "to be a celebrity or thinking I'd always be popular" and tried to make a virtue of his reputation for appearing serious.

"I want to talk with you today about who I am, what I believe, what I am determined to lead this party and this great country to achieve," said Mr Brown.

"As we gather here today, I know people have real concerns about the future of the country, the future of the economy and people in this hall have concerns about the future of our party too.

"So I want to answer your questions directly, to talk with you about how amidst all the present difficulties, we should be more confident than ever that we can build... a fair Britain for the new age."

Addressing criticism of his style and presentation skills, he said: "I'm not going to try to be something I'm not.

"And if people say I'm too serious, quite honestly there is a lot to be serious about. I'm serious about doing a serious job for all the people of this country."

Mr Brown, who was introduced on stage by his wife Sarah, defended his decision not to use publicity about his children to soften his image.

"Some people have been asking why I haven't served my children up for spreads in the papers," he said. "And my answer is simple - my children aren't props, they're people."

'Thanks to NHS my sight was saved'

Hailing the work of the NHS, Mr Brown recalled how, after the rugby accident which cost him the sight of one eye, he temporarily lost the use of the other and feared he may remain blind for life.

"Thanks to the NHS, my sight was saved by care my parents could never have afforded," he said. "And so it's precisely because I know and have heard from others about the miraculous difference a great surgeon and great nurses and great care can make that I'm so passionate about the values of the NHS and so committed to reforming it to serve those values even better."

'Rock of stability'

Mr Brown said that the Labour Government should aim to be "the rock of stability and fairness upon which people stand" during times of economic turmoil.

He insisted that his administration remained a "pro-enterprise, pro-business, pro-competition Government", but market turbulence meant a "new settlement" was needed where people were rewarded for "what really matters - hard work, effort and enterprise".

"Just as we know that governments cannot and should not do everything, so too we know markets cannot deliver it all on their own," he said.

"Just as those who supported the dogma of big government were proved wrong, so too those who argue for the dogma of unbridled free market forces have been proved wrong."

Mr Brown said that in international meetings in New York after the conference concludes, he and Chancellor Alistair Darling will argue for reforms to the global financial system to ensure transparency, sound banking, responsibility and integrity.

He identified the commitment to "fairness" as the key dividing line between Labour and the Conservatives.

"Why do we always strive for fairness?" he said. "Not because it makes good soundbites. Not because it gives good photo-opportunities. Not because it makes for good PR.

"No. We do it because fairness is in our DNA. It's who we are and what we're for. It's why Labour exists. It's our first instinct and the soul of our party."

As part of his commitment to fairness, he announced that he will enshrine in law Labour's pledge to end child poverty by 2020.

And he scaled up the Government's ambitions on climate change by bringing forward plans to cut carbon emissions by 80%.

In an attack on David Cameron's Conservatives, Mr Brown said that the Tories were using slick presentation skills to present themselves as the party of the future when they were in fact "prisoners of their past".

Tory reliance on the self-regulation of the markets, their opposition to taking Northern Rock into public ownership and their opposition to the ban on short-selling showed that "Britain cannot trust the Conservatives to run the economy".

'No time for a novice'

In a jibe at shadow chancellor George Osborne, he joked: "I am all in favour of apprenticeships, but let me tell you this is no time for a novice."

In an implicit rejection of Mr Cameron's claim that he could sum up his priorities in the three letters NHS, Mr Brown insisted that "Labour is the party of the NHS".

And he dismissed the Tories' claims that Britain is a "broken society", insisting: "I don't believe Britain is broken - I think it's the best country in the world. I believe in Britain."

Mr Brown said: "The Conservative leader's team is smart - they've got a plan, and they are implementing it ruthlessly.

"Their strategy is to change their appearance, to give the appearance of change, and to conceal what they really think. And when salesmen won't tell you what they are selling, it's because they are selling something no-one should buy...

"If you look beneath the surface, you'll see that the Conservatives might have changed their tune, but they haven't changed their minds.

"The Conservatives say our country is broken - but this country has never been broken by anyone or anything. This country wasn't broken by fascism, by the cold war, by terrorists."

By contrast, he said Labour stood for "the fair society. Fairness at home. Fairness in the world - that's the new settlement for new times."