Thank you for joining me for Gordon Brown's regular press conference, although the timing of this one is a little bit special.
Watch a clip from the press conference
What a difference a week in politics can make. Before the Conservative party conference the prime minister seemed poised to call an early election to capitalise on the "Brown bounce".
But following a furious reaction to last week's announcement of a reduction in troop numbers in Iraq, denounced by the opposition as cynical electioneering, and the "Cameron comeback" in the opinion polls after Tory policies on inheritance tax and a well-received speech by David Cameron, Mr Brown changed his mind.
He has been widely accused of bottling it, and, with his credibility under scrutiny, expect some tough questions today.
Midday
And here's the PM. Adam Boulton from Sky is asking him about the Tory accusation that he treated the public like fools and whether he has the right advisers around him.
Mr Brown says his first instinct was to deliver on his vision before going to the polls but he listened to MPs in marginal seats who were keen for an election.
(Not all MPs in marginal seats were so keen, however, Derek Wyatt for one.)
He refuses to blame his advisers.
The BBC's Nick Robinson says that the evidence is that the PM listens to the people when they agree but not when they're against him.
Mr Brown says he had always intended to make the decision at the end of the conference season and that he is giving people the chance to participate through initiatives such as citizens' juries and commissions.
Turning up the heat, Robinson counters by saying that the ultimate way to listen to people is to give them the vote.
He says that the PM had planned to have an election as late as Friday.
Mr Brown hits back and says he needs time to show how he can meet the aspirations of the British people.
The Grand Old Duke of York analogy is brought out by another questioner.
Mr Brown walked us to the top of the hill and then down again when he thought he'd lose, it is claimed.
Mr Brown insists he would win an election at any time but he wanted to put in place his long-term vision.
He mentions aspirations another couple of times; it seems to be a political buzz word at the moment.
A reporter for channel Five news asks the PM if he accepts that the situation was not handled well.
Mr Brown reiterates that he decided he would make the decision at the end of the party conference.
He says it is inevitable there would be speculation during the conference season.
The PM is asked if he'll copy Tory tax plans that have apparently helped their comeback in the polls.
Mr Brown says the Tories are going back to the early 1990s when they could not fund the tax cuts which they pledged.
He says they know perfectly well their policies are "unrealisable".
James Landale of BBC is asking if the PM is claiming that the decision not to have an election was really nothing to do with the polls.
Mr Brown harks back to the marginal seat MPs telling him he would win, repeating his message as he has been careful to do since becoming prime minister.
We move on to the postal strike, which I'm sure pleases the PM (the change of subject, not the strike).
Mr Brown says it is totally unacceptable and he wants the employees to return to work.
Next, he is asked by Bob Roberts from the Daily Mirror about taxing non-domiciles and what he plans to do.
Mr Brown says it is a matter for the chancellor... but the amount that would be raised would be substantially lower than what the Tories claimed, he says; £25,000 would be excessive for some people and others would change their status to avoid it.
He says there is no way it could raise the amount necessary to enable the Tories to raise the inheritance tax threshold to £1m.
An Australian broadcaster asks him about Iraq and giving visas to people who help their forces.
Mr Brown says he will be giving a statement at the Commons later which will "directly address" those who help the armed forces.
12.15pm
CNN asks Mr Brown why he made a statement in Basra about reductions in troop numbers during the Tory party conference and refers to the "dodgy" figures which saw Mr Brown include some cuts in numbers that had already been made.
The PM tells the questioner he is wrong "in every respect".
Now we're on to Iran and Mr Brown is asked whether he would support or assist an attack on the Tehran regime.
Mr Brown says that the nuclear programme in Iran cannot go unchallenged but he believes the matter can be resolved by diplomatic means.
He is not prepared to go further than that. "I do not rule out anything," he concludes.
He then says that the Iranians must not interfere in another country without UN support.
12.20pm
Mr Brown is asked whether he thought three weeks insufficient for an election campaign.
He says people want to see the effects of the policies he has announced since entering No 10.
Once more he's on to aspirations. He wants to show he's delivering.
We are on to the idea of a written constitution and fixed-term parliaments.
Mr Brown says there are "strong objections" to fixed-term parliaments but debate on the matter should continue.
The PM is asked about the arming of Sunni militias by the US and the concern it is causing the Shia population in Anbar province.
Mr Brown says everyone should welcome the progress in Anbar Province where al-Qaida has been shown the door.
Mr Brown says Iraq will "soon" be able to take responsibility for its own security.
12.25pm
The PM is asked if he will rule out an election next year and if he can say "hand on heart" that the opinion polls were not the reason for his change of heart.
He says he can say that hand on heart and repeats that marginal constituency MPs were telling him he could win and that he wanted to give his policies a chance to deliver.
We're on to inheritance tax and Mr Brown is asked if he is out of touch with the British people over their "rising aspirations".
Mr Brown won't like that; people's aspirations are very important to him, as he keeps telling us.
Mr Brown says we need to work out a fair and affordable level of inheritance tax and that the government has been raising it from under £200,000 to over £300,000 by 2010.
Mr Brown insists it must be workable and he says Tory plans are not funded properly as the non-domicile charge would not raise the amount the Tories claim.
12.30pm
A reporter from Radio 1's Newsbeat asks Mr Brown if he's a ditherer, recalling his decision not to challenge Tony Blair for the Labour leadership in 1994.
Mr Brown says he did the "right thing" in 1994 and this weekend.
Again he says he wanted to show that he was delivering.
He claims he'll show decisiveness by making the long-term decisions on the NHS and the economy and other issues that matter.
A reporter from Fox News asks if the France-US relationship is challenging the UK-US special relationship.
Mr Brown says he welcomes the closer relationship between the US and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.
The Newsbeat reporter chips back in, asking if Mr Brown "bottled it". It's unsurprisingly a "no" from Mr Brown.
Mr Brown is asked if the fact that he called this press conference demonstrates that he made a mistake in the way that he announced there would be no election this weekend.
Once again he says that he had planned to make the decision after the party conference season.
The PM is asked if he is bound by the manifesto at the 2005 election and if anything has changed should the people not be given the chance to vote on it?
Mr Brown says he is achieving the ambition of a better health and education system but in a better way from 2005.
We're on to Iraq and Mr Brown is asked if the withdrawal of foreign troops will make Britain and its allies more or less safe.
Mr Brown says progress is if the Iraqis can run their own security services. He says it is not an admission of threatened security to withdraw troops but in fact the opposite.
Still on Iraq. The PM is told that British troops in the south of Iraq are an essential presence.
Mr Brown says he will deal with troop numbers in his address to the Commons later.
A BBC reporter asks if the PM will admit his aim was to destabilise his opponents and that that backfired on him.
Once more Mr Brown says he had decided to make the call at the end of the party conference season and that he wanted to deliver on his promises.
Mr Brown says he did what he said he would by making the decision at the end of the party conference season.
Now he's asked if he'd make the "bold" move of naming the date of a 2009 election. The PM is having none of it.
A reporter from Northcliffe Newspapers asks about supercasinos and the smaller casinos that were part of the now-frozen scheme and their links to regeneration projects.
Mr Brown says there are better ways of achieving regeneration.
12.40pm
Back to the election, and the PM is asked why his advisers briefed on his first day in office that there would be an election next year.
Mr Brown says he knows nothing about that and did not even speak to his advisers on his first day in office.
He repeats that he takes the blame for anything that goes wrong.
A London Evening Standard reports says that Mr Brown could not fulfil an element of his conference speech, about throwing out people who sell drugs or carry guns, because of EU law.
Mr Brown says he only referred to newcomers and they could be thrown out under EU law.
Back to the election. Mr Brown is asked who first came up with the idea of a 2007 election. He grins and says he is not going to go into that.
And we're back to the constituency MPs and then showing he can deliver. He's not budging on this.
Mr Brown claims he would have made the same decision if he was 5% up in the polls in the marginal seats.
On the Middle East, the prime minister says that the government will do what it can to support the peace process.
12.45pm
A Glasgow Herald reporter returns to the election and whether Mr Brown considered the issue of whether there should be a referendum on the EU reform treaty when making his decision.
Mr Brown says that that is an issue that needs to be debated whether there's an election or not, grinning once more.
Mr Brown says that international institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF need to be renewed, after being asked about his international priorities.
He adds that there is no international body dealing with climate change.
An Italian journalist asks about Mr Cameron's pledge that he would make Afghanistan his top international priority and what Mr Brown's plans are.
Mr Brown says Afghanistan is the "front line" against the Taliban and we must support the Nato and US troops there. He says the government will continue to give its support.
Mr Brown is asked whether he would be supporting England or France in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
He says England without hesitation, although adds that the one barrier to his support has been removed - in other words Scotland are out of the tournament.
He expects England to do well against France.
The PM is asked if he would consider doing speeches without an Autocue and whether he shares common ground with the Tories.
He says he won't dispense with his Autocue and that he has been reaching out to Tories and Liberal Democrats through his "government of all the talents".
We're on to the forced expulsion of asylum seekers and Mr Brown says he will not yield to the view that we have no right to deport asylum seekers who have no right to be in our country.
12.50pm
We are on to Morocco, and the new PM there. Mr Brown is asked about his relationship with Morocco.
He says he wants very strong relationships in that area, a brief reply.
Israel Radio asks about Syria arming Hizbullah, its intervention in Lebanon, and its refusal to participate in the peace talks.
Mr Brown says he would warn the Syrian PM about the first two and encourage the Syrians to enter the peace process.
He says he'll expand on this during his Commons statement on Iraq.
We are reassuringly back on the election. I'm tempted to write the reply before he even replies.
Lo and behold, he says he talked to people in marginal constituencies, Labour would have won, and he wanted to give people a chance to see Labour delivering.
12.55pm
He is grinning again as he is getting questions shouted out at him.
The Sun asks why Mr Brown will not give people a say on the EU reform treaty.
Mr Brown says there would be a referendum if we were to join the euro but we secured "red lines" under the EU reform treaty which means there is no fundamental change which requires a constitution.
The PM says the protections asked for have been achieved.
1pm
Andrew Porter from the Daily Telegraph puts it to Mr Brown that a lot of MPs in marginal seats were desperate for there not to be an election.
Mr Brown says that his decision was made on the basis he has already outlined.
The PM is asked again about the Tory tax proposals and he says that there will be a "big debate" in the months to come.
Mr Brown says that 90% of people do not pay inheritance tax at the moment but he understands their concerns.
Mr Brown says that the Tories will only raise a few hundred million pounds by taxing non-domiciles when they actually need to raise £3.6bn.
The PM is asked about Afghanistan and a battalion having to draw in troops from other battalions.
Mr Brown says he has reversed cuts in the defence budget and provided "billions of pounds" so that urgent operational needs can be met.
He says that the government is trying its best to boost recruitment numbers.
Back to the EU reform treaty and the PM is asked if he is ruling out a referendum on the EU treaty and on fixed-term parliaments.
Mr Brown says there should be constitutional debate on the latter and, on the former, if the red lines are not achieved there should be a veto or referendum but he believes the red lines will be achieved.
Mr Brown is asked what a "Fife Feartie" is by Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail.
That is how Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, referred to him this weekend. The PM doesn't define what a Fife Feartie is.
1.05pm
A Portuguese journalist asks Mr Brown about his threat not to attend the EU-Africa summit if Robert Mugabe is there. Mr Brown confirms that no senior minister will attend.
Finally a question about Northern Rock and Mr Brown says he wants the savings of everyone investing with Northern Rock protected in the long-term and also mortgages and staff.
And that's it. Thanks for your comments, please keep them coming, and stay on the site for reaction and also for Mr Brown's Commons statement on Iraq.
