[Al Arabiya Latest] British Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted he would stay in his job Friday despite a wave of ministerial resignations, saying: "I will not waver, I will not walk away.""Yes it was a tough fight but we fight on for what we believe," Brown said during a press conference. "I accept my responsibility, I am not going to walk away from my duty to the country."
He accepted that his ruling Labor Party had suffered a "painful defeat" in local and European elections but said people would not forgive the government if it "walked away from our responsibilities."
Britain's defense secretary dealt another body blow to Brown earlier on Friday by quitting hours after a cabinet colleague had resigned calling for the prime minister to stand down. Six of Brown's ministers, four of them in the cabinet, have resigned in the past week.
In a shock move as polls closed late Thursday, James Purnell stepped down as Work And Pensions Secretary and called on Brown to resign, prompting the premier to reshuffle his government in a bid to re-launch his leadership.
Purnell is so far the only one stepping down to knife Brown on the way out with a resignation call. "I now believe that your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less, likely. That would be disastrous for our country," Purnell wrote in his resignation letter to Brown. "I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our party a fighting chance of winning. As such I am resigning from government."
Brown, weakened by the resignations, has backed down on plans to replace Finance Minister Alistair Darling with his long-time close ally Ed Balls. Ball is a divisive figure and economists had criticized the wisdom of changing the finance minister during the worst recession since World War Two.
Economists said they expected a Conservative finance minister to be in the job after the election. Britain will run a budget deficit of $282 billion (£175 billion) this year and taxes will ultimately have to be raised and spending cut to balance the books.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson also looks set to take over from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
A general election must be held by mid-2010, which the main opposition Conservatives are tipped to win over Labour, according to opinion polls.