Gordon Brown issued an unprecedented statement on Burma on Sunday, in which he called on the UN Security Council to consider "the grave situation" in Burma "at the earliest opportunity" and promised to personally raise the situation with other world leaders.

The statement comes after a major campaign by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and Burma Campaign UK to put pressure on the British Government to lead calls for the UN Security Council to discuss Burma.

The Prime Minister also said he is instructing the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, to discuss Burma with other European Union governments this week, and called for the UN Secretary-General, the UN General Assembly and the UN's human rights bodies "to give this alarming situation the attention it so patently deserves".

Brown's statement is the first time a British Prime Minister has personally issued such specific promises on Burma.

It follows statements last week from US President George W Bush and British Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, and a personal telephone call from US First Lady Laura Bush to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in regard to the current crisis in Burma.

In response to continuing protests throughout Burma over the past two weeks against fuel price hikes, Burma's military regime has launched a severe crackdown.

Over 150 people have been arrested, including almost all the leading pro-democracy activists. The regime has used militia armed with iron rods and bamboo sticks in violent assaults on peaceful protestors.

CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: "We warmly welcome the Prime Minister's significant statement in response to the current crisis in Burma. He has called for all the steps which we have been urging the UK Government to take for a long time. The situation in Burma has been badly neglected, and requires urgent action."