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Despite mounting pressure to alter its course in dealing with the economic crisis, the government will continue to be adamant on sticking with its intended path to reduce the budget deficit through heavy austerity measures, according to the British Prime Minister.

Speaking to the BBC prior to the Labour Party’s annual conference on Sunday, opposition leader Ed Miliband pressed the Prime Minister to assume leadership in the face of the severe international economic crisis and work with other European countries to pursue for growth.

“Let's get stuck in, let's engage, let's get Europe to grow, that's the priority,” he said accusing Cameron of standing aside in an attempt to avoid getting caught up with the Eurozone's problems.

Miliband also said rising unemployment signalled that Cameron's deficit-cutting strategy was not effective and action was needed to get the economy growing.

He said: “As a first step we say cut VAT. Keep to a plan to cut the deficit over four years but do it with growth because that's the only way you are going to achieve what you need to achieve.

“There is an absence of leadership and I say to the prime minister 'put the politics aside, start showing some leadership'.”

However, David Cameron told US broadcaster ABC News that the government will not wander from its strategy to eliminate the country's budget deficit by 2015 from a record 10 percent of GDP, regardless of the lack of UK economic growth.

“We have to deliver on the programme, that is vitally important to prove to the world we can pay our way and to keep our interest rates,” he said, stating that the UK holds the same interest level as Germany at 2 percent.

Last week the International Monetary Fund cut its UK growth forecast for 2012 from 2.3% to 1.6%.and cumulative public sector net borrowing was put at £52bn - 7% less than a year ago.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the growth downgrade was “a further blow to the Government's economic credibility” and urged the Chancellor to look for alternatives to his austerity measures, but Mrs Lagarde, head of the IMF, said the UK's budget deficit approach remained “appropriate” but warned that “the heightened risk” meant a need for a “heightened readiness to respond”.

In his interview, Mr Cameron highlighted that while some countries in the Eurozone were dire straits in dealing with their deficits – noting that Britain’s deficit is equivalent to that of Greece, Spain and Portugal - the UK is more equipped in dealing with its financial crisis because they have shown the world it has a plan.

“You’ve got to show the world you can pay for your debts, as well as having a very strong growth strategy,” he said, adding that Britain is “not in trouble because we have actually shown the world we have a plan to deal with this.”

 Cameron told ABC’s presenter Christiane Amanpour that simply “turning on the money taps” in Europe was not an option because the problem was a “debt crisis” rather than a “traditional cyclical recession”.