British Minister Gordon Brown set out plans to tackle youth unemployment yesterday in a programme for the final few months before an election that could end Labour's long grip on power.

Mr Brown pledged £1.5 billion to boost the supply of low-cost housing and a £150-million fund to encourage investment in areas like biotechnology and green industries. The Prime Minister is seeking to revive his poll ratings less than a year before a general election that the centre-right opposition Conservatives are tipped to win by a big margin.

"We are determined to take forward the reforms of the last decade," Mr Brown told Parliament.

"Our task after three terms in office is not merely to defend Britain's achievements over the last decade, but to work even harder so as to meet new challenges with the same sense of conviction."

All the main parties have been damaged by a scandal over lawmakers' expense claims but Labour, in power since 1997, has been hardest hit because it presided over a discredited system.

The election is likely to be dominated by debate over how to curb a budget deficit that will reach £175 billion this year, more than 12 per cent of gross domestic product, after the government moved to prop up banks and boost spending in the wake of the global economic recession.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said there would be no increase in total government debt as a consequence of the measures announced.

Keen to stress his party's public service credentials, Mr Brown offered individual tuition for schoolchildren who fall behind in their studies and free health checks for the over-40s. Labour says the opposition would make big cuts in core public services if it won the election.

Opposition leader David Cameron dismissed Mr Brown's proposals as a "package without a price tag". Labour is hoping Britain will start to pull out of its deepest recession since World War II by the end of the year, boosting voters' morale and making the budget arithmetic slightly less daunting.

However, rising unemployment risks undermining any feel-good factor. Unemployment stands at a 12-year-high of 7.2 per cent and is expected to rise when students and school leavers are added in the coming months.