Brown insists he is fighting fit

12 April 2012

Gordon Brown insisted that there was no deterioration in his eyesight following revelations at the weekend about two minor tears in his retina.

The Prime Minister said he was one of the "fittest people around" and his health would not prevent him from fighting the next General Election.

He said his visit to doctors had revealed two minor tears in his retina.

He told GMTV: "I had been to see my doctors, they looked at my eyes. I did have a lot of operations when I was young, I went through quite a difficult time. They managed to save my eyesight and it is not deteriorating, everything is fine."

Asked if he was looking for an "out" in order not to lead the Labour Party into the General Election, Mr Brown said: "I wouldn't be running three miles a day when I can to keep fit and I wouldn't have spent the summer doing lots of exercises to make sure that I was really fighting fit.

"I have got this one thing. It is better to tell people this is an issue. Everybody knows that I lost the sight in one eye playing rugby and I had a retinal detachment in the other but it is OK, there is no deterioration at all."

In his interview, a laughing Mr Brown said he wanted to challenge GMTV presenter and former tennis professional Andrew Castle to a game of tennis.

Mr Brown said: "I am one of the fittest people around you know, I go running.. I am going to challenge you to a game of tennis some time."

Asked if he would be challenged from within his own party before the next General Election, Mr Brown responded: "People need to know their leaders will do the right thing and will make the right decisions and I think even although it has been unpopular in the short term, I have made the right decisions. I think people will see the economy getting better over the next few months."

The Prime Minister's remarks about his health come after it was disclosed on Saturday that eye sight tests have revealed two minor tears on his retina but he would not be under going further operations.

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