British Prime Minister David Cameron says Europe must take urgent action to fix its financial problems or risk pulling down the global economy.

Mr. Cameron spoke Sunday in Manchester, on the opening day of the governing Conservative Party's annual conference. He vowed to stick to his coalition's deficit reduction plan, despite increasing concerns by some analysts that its job cutting measures may be hindering growth of the British economy.

He also told British television that Britain must remain a part of the 27-nation European Union, and said the 17 countries of the eurozone must act in the coming weeks to deal with the continent's debt crisis. Britain is not a member of the eurozone.

The topic of Britain's economic future is expected to dominate the four-day conference in Manchester.

Outside the venue, thousands of demonstrators marched Sunday to protest against government spending cuts that have forced layoffs of 250,000 public sector workers in the past year.

Government data shows more than 100,000 of those jobs were lost between March and June of this year alone.