Labour was destined for defeat at the next election and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he wasn’t going to step down.

The Labour Party conference in Manchester had been predictably subdued.

The only story in town had been who was going to have the guts to turn Judas.

And to cap it all off, there was to be a speech from a man renowned for repeating anodyne phrases like “long-term decisions” and “sustainable future” ad infinitum.

But then something changed. In walked New Brown.

New Brown somehow convinced the party faithful in the hall — at least for today — that they can win the next election under his leadership.

And then there was the “human touch” of New Brown.

We’ve all heard how awkward and dour Old Brown used to be, how out of touch with normal people he was, how unlike that charming Tony Blair…

But today New Brown skipped on to the stage, cracked funny gags and had not one, but two kisses on the lips for his wife Sarah as the lengthy standing ovation reverberated around the hall.

The audience had obviously got wind of New Brown, because they were sold long before he strolled in.

Groups of ladies disco-danced to M People and T-Rex in their chairs as the hall filled up. There were whistles and whoops when New Brown strolled in.

They all clapped along dutifully to a short film of Labour’s achievements in power as Jackie Wilson’s Higher And Higher blared out.

It was all a little bit Baptist church, a little bit Butlins — maybe even a little bit Blair.

There will be much celebration and self-congratulating in the trendy bars of Manchester as Labourites raise their glasses to New Brown tonight.

But when the hangovers ease and the Labour Party spaceship relocates to London, will the plotters really stop plotting? And will the opinion polls turn around?

The Labour faithful believes in New Brown today. Do you?

    One thing looks certain after Alistair Darling’s speech to
the Labour Party conference on Monday — he’ll be Chancellor of
the Exchequer for a while yet.

    Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to reshuffle his
ministerial team next week and there’s been a lot of speculation
that Darling could lose his job and be moved to another
department.

    The silver-haired finance minister has had a rough ride
lately. The economy is on the brink of recession and his
comments in a magazine interview saying the economic challenges
were the greatest in 60 years caused a furore and were blamed
for sinking the pound.

    But delegates at the Labour conference today just loved him.
They stood and clapped and then they clapped some more after
Darling hit out at unfettered capitalism and the huge payouts
given to bankers that he said helped cause the credit crunch.

    Darling looked genuinely embarrassed. He called for them to
stop but the delegates just went on. Besides modesty, the
finance minister had another reason for wanting them to stop.

    He had another type of conference call to attend to. A G7
one. The finance ministers and central bankers of the rich
nations club were having a hastily-arranged telephone chat at
1230 London time to discuss the latest bout of market turmoil.

    Given London’s position as one of the world’s top financial
centres, Darling could hardly miss out and he rushed off the
stage to get on with his G7 buddies.

    The crisis also looks to have cemented Darling’s position.
It would seem odd to remove the finance minister when the whole
world financial system is in the middle of the biggest upheaval
in a generation.

    With Brown making his economic experience a key selling
point, he needs Darling on side.

The Friday night take-away, Saturday shopping spree and summer get-away are in line for the chop, as consumers become increasingly nervous over looming recession. Almost nine out of 10 Britons say they will cut spending on non-essential items to cushion themselves against impending economic downturn, according to a poll of 1,000 people for Web site Fool.co.uk.

A British institution — the good old take-away — is set to receive the biggest blow, with over two-thirds of the nation planning to cut back on curries, fish suppers and late-night kebabs, the survey says. Other planned cutbacks include retail therapy (67 percent) and fewer holidays (49 percent), while 12 percent plan to stop smoking, 4 percent to put pension contributions on hold and 3 percent say they will even cut their kids’ pocket-money.

This is just the latest in a string of evidence pointing to dwindling consumer confidence and increased uneasiness over the state of the global economy. It is, of course, important not to talk ourselves into recession: unnecessary doom and gloom will only serve to exacerbate the situation, something that those with a vested interest in the property market remaining buoyant have long maintained.

But Britons are surely feeling the pinch. The latest figures from Philip Hammond, shadow Treasury chief secretary, reveal that the disposable income of the average working family has dropped to 25,900 pounds today from 26,200 pounds in 2006, and personal debt in the UK is growing at an unprecedented rate — one million pounds every five minutes.

With the cost of living rising while disposable income falls, consumers must feel like they are being squeezed from all sides: failure to make hay while the sun was shining could soon come back to haunt them. It is reassuring, then, that reality is finally hitting home. During a recession, cash is king. And those with the leanest budgets will be best placed to survive.