By KUNA,
London : Former US President Bill Clinton lent his support to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday, praising him as a man with a “big brain and a good heart.”
Clinton told BBC radio he was not about to predict the Prime Minister’s demise, and called on him to apply his talents to working through the economic turbulence facing the country.
He said it would be “difficult to maintain a very high level of popularity” for any politician amid the increasing costs of living and soaring petrol prices.
The Prime Minister had to “trust the people” to “make a good judgment” whenever he decided to call a General Election.
The former US Presidents support came as it was announced that Brown will hold a special Cabinet meeting outside London and will put tackling “fuel poverty” at the top of his political agenda.
It is expected to form a key element of Brown’s political fightback, along with a Cabinet reshuffle and the publication of an economic recovery plan, both expected in September, commentators said.
The package is thought to include measures to help vulnerable households struggling with rising energy costs, the Sun newspaper said.
British ministers however appear to be moving away from the idea of a windfall tax on the profits of the energy companies called for by some Labour left-wing MPs and trade unionists.
In his interview with BBC radio, Clinton said he had known 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, ” he added.
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.