Brown has nine months to save his PM post

London, Sep 22 : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been given time till June 2009 by his senior Cabinet ministers to prove himself capable of saving the Labour Party from a general election meltdown or face being unseated. For the first time those loyal to Brown have put a time limit on the Prime Minister's survival, The Telegraph reported.

Brown pleaded for more time to turn around Labour's problems but admitted he had made mistakes. "I will do better," he said.

In Manchester for the Labour party conference, the Prime Minister refused to entertain the idea of stepping down in an attempt to revitalise the party under a new leader.

He said he would be letting down the British people if he decided to "bail out."

But one Cabinet minister told the Telegraph he has nine months to improve Labour's standing in the polls.

"I want Brown to succeed and I still think he can but we have to accept that if he doesn't turn things round then we will have to start thinking about the future of the Labour party, rather than just Brown's survival," the minister said.

"Brown can still do this and the past week's events with the economic turmoil are an opportunity for him. But if he hasn't turned it round but if he hasn't turned in three to six months then in truth we will have to look very hard at what to do," another minister added.

The new consensus among Cabinet ministers loyal to Brown to set him a deadline emerged as David Miliband seemed to step up his campaign.

Brown's allies were unaware that on the eve of conference the Foreign Secretary had given expansive personal interviews designed to target Labour supporters.

The European elections in June next year now look like the crucial point where the future of Brown could be decided.

ANI