Brown cannot escape the failures of the past decade

11.26.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th Jun 2007

Gordon Brown's takeover as Prime Minister will not change the course of the Labour Government

Britain will not make a clean break from the Tony Blair-era with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, Jo Swinson has said.

Commenting on Gordon Brown taking office as Prime Minister today, Jo said:

"Gordon Brown wants us to believe that his takeover as Prime Minister represents a clean break from the Blair-era.

"The truth is that the Chancellor is too closely associated with the failures of the past ten years for a fresh start to be possible. At the helm of the Treasury he has presided over a widening gap between rich and poor, sold pensioners short with complex means-testing and signed the cheques for the war in Iraq.

"On Iraq, as on many of the key issues of recent years, the Conservatives have only offered consensus with Labour. A change of direction, not simply a change of leader, is now needed in this country."