Britain's opposition Labour Party on Sunday urged the Conservative-led government of Prime Minister David Cameron to "change course" over its strict austerity programme which it alleged was "not working.", dpa reported. Speaking in TV interviews on the opening day of the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, party leader Ed Miliband called on Cameron to "show leadership" over the present crisis. He said the tough deficit-reduction policies introduced by the government a year ago were "not working" and suggested that a temporary cut in Value Added Tax (VAT) could help stimulate the sluggish economic recovery. However, Miliband also admitted that his party - and he as its leader - had a "long way to go" to convince people to vote Labour at the next election, scheduled for 2015. "We are a party on the way back. There's a long way to go and I, more than anyone, know the scale of the task," Miliband said on BBC television. Miliband, 41, was elected Labour Party leader a year ago, beating his older brother, David, the former Foreign Secretary, narrowly in the contest. David, who has said he will stay away from the conference in order not to steal the limelight, is nonetheless planning an appearance at a fringe meeting. A YouGov opinion poll published Sunday showed that 75 per cent of Britons do not believe that the Labour Party is "fit to govern," while 68 per cent say the party needs to change "fundamentally" to return to government. The conference, which goes on until Thursday, will be addressed by the party leader on Tuesday.
