Prime Minister Gordon Brown branded the Zimbabwean government a "blood-stained regime" on Saturday and urged the international community to tell President Robert Mugabe "enough is enough."
Brown said food shortages, and the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe which has killed hundreds of people, had become an "international rather than a national emergency" that demanded a coordinated response.
"We must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough," he said in a statement.
Brown did not explicitly say Mugabe should step down, but in comments later on television he said the world should speak with one voice "to say that this must be brought to an end."
"The whole world is angry because they see avoidable deaths -- of children, mothers, and families affected by a disease that could have been avoided," he said. "This is a humanitarian catastrophe. This is a breakdown in civil society. It is a blood-stained regime that is letting down its own people."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that Mugabe's departure from office was long overdue.
Britain has long had tense ties with Zimbabwe, formerly a British colony. Mugabe, 84, in power since independence in 1980, has accused London of trying to retain influence in his country.
Brown said he had had close contact with African leaders "to press for stronger action to give the Zimbabwean people the government they deserve."
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