British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted yesterday he could do better as he bids to fend off rebels opposed to his leadership at his ruling Labour Party's annual conference.
But he added that voters would not forgive him and his government if it decided to "bail out" of tackling the current economic uncertainty following a week of extraordinary events on world money markets.
Brown, Tony Blair's finance minister for 10 years, argued that he had the "wisdom" and "judgment" to deal with the turmoil, not the main opposition Conservatives who fresh opinion polls Sunday placed well ahead of Labour.
"I want to do better, obviously I always want to do better, my whole ethos, my school motto was "I will try my utmost", I want to do better always," Brown told BBC television.
"When you have an international financial crisis, I happen to think I'm better prepared to deal with that than perhaps anyone."
He said he was working with other international leaders including US President George W. Bush in a bid to establish international rules to regulate the financial system more tightly.
Asked whether he would respond to pressure from rebels for a change in leadership, Brown indicated he had no intention of stepping down and quoted 19th century British author Joseph Conrad.
"The best way to deal with that storm is, he said, facing it, facing it. I think all the Cabinet and the government are of the same mind," he said.
"We would be letting people down if suddenly we walked away and said 'we bail out'. What we do is we keep doing what is right for this country."
Brown faces an uphill struggle during Labour's five-day conference in Manchester, north-west England, which got under way Saturday, that he should hang on to his job.