Brown: We're the happiest family in Britain.

CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown said he and his wife Sarah were now part of the happiest family in Britain as he revealed that they would name their son John.

The beaming Chancellor said the boy would be named after his paternal grandfather as he emerged from the maternity unit at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary yesterday.

Sarah Brown gave birth to the 8lb 1oz infant by caesarean section on Friday, less than two years after the death of their first child, Jennifer in hospital.

Mr Brown said he expected his wife and child to leave the Simpsons Centre for Reproductive Health on Tuesday.

He added that John - who will later be given a middle name - was 'incredibly fit and strong', while Sarah was doing well.

'With the baby doing well and Sarah doing well we think we must be the happiest family in Britain today,' Mr Brown revealed he would be taking paternity leave, adding: 'I'm a father and that's what matters most.'

He even shared a joke with the assembled press, telling them he was taking lessons in nappy-changing.

'The only growth figures that I'll be thinking about is the rising weight and the rising height of the baby,' he added.

'It has been an extraordinary time. We've had hundreds, indeed thousands of letters from parents, some of whom have lost their baby as we lost our lovely Jennifer.

'And although the sadness remains, there is joy. There is joy in the morning, and we've seen that in the last day.'