Clinton backs 'big-brained' Brown

Former US president Bill Clinton has given Gordon Brown his backing, saying he is a man with a "big brain and a good heart".

Mr Clinton called on Mr Brown to apply his talents to working through the economic turbulence as the UK struggles through the credit crunch, but said he was not prepared to predict his demise.

Amid higher costs of living and soaring petrol prices, Mr Clinton said it would be "difficult to maintain a very high level of popularity" for any politician and Mr Brown must "trust the people" to "make a good judgment" should an election be called.

Mr Clinton said he had known Mr Brown since he first met him 20 years ago and was still in contact.

He said: "I think anybody would find it difficult to maintain a very high level of popularity when average people are having the problems they are having today in the UK and the US with the soaring price of gasoline and the cost of living going up.

"I wouldn't predict Gordon's demise too quickly. I think he is just in a period where circumstances have got the British people appropriately concerned about how to get from day to day, week to week.

"The only advice I would give him is that he has got a big brain and a good heart - he just needs to apply them both to working through these issues as best he can and trust the politics.

"Just trust the people to, at whatever time he stands for election, to make a good judgment. You get one of these jobs, the best politics is to do the job."

Mr Clinton's comments came as he addressed an international Aids conference in Mexico City where he called for more to be done to hold down the cost of drugs to help the battle against HIV.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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