LONDON, Aug 23: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted on Saturday that the economy was resilient, but acknowledged the nation was facing tough times.

In a series of broadcast interviews during a visit to China, Brown refused to say whether he thought Britain was facing a recession, but said rising oil and food prices would inevitably hurt.

“I think that you will find that the British economy is resilient,” he told BBC television.

“We have got to take people through these difficult economic times. We have done it before and we will do it again.” But he added: “You can’t expect people to be cheering in the streets if you have oil prices rising and food prices rising.”

Fears of recession in the British economy were fuelled last week after data showed economic growth ground to a halt in the second three months of 2008. It was the first period of stagnation since the slump of the early 1980s.

Brown, no longer able to use his oft-repeated boast that the British economy, has grown continuously since his Labour Party won power in 1997, is feeling the heat from opinion polls which show his popularity at rock bottom, and from within his party, where talk of a leadership challenge is bubbling in the ranks.—Reuters