BRITAIN: Tony Blair yesterday reasserted his prime ministerial authority with a powerful Brighton conference speech which challenged Labour to abandon some cherished "myths" in order to become the party that embraces change "and shapes it to progressive ends".
Sparing only a few paragraphs of his 50-minute speech to mock Tory and Liberal Democrat rivals, Mr Blair warned his party against lapsing into the "comfort zone" of doctrinaire politics and told them: "We have become a grown-up party, capable of leading a grown-up nation."
A day after chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown set out his vision for renewal of New Labour's mission, the prime minister gave no hint of when he might stand down. But his confident tone - combined with a long list of policy goals - left the strong impression that he does not plan to go soon.
Instead, he appealed to his audience to embrace change, referring to "the patient courage of the changemaker. That's what we have been in New Labour. The changemakers. That's how we must stay."
Mr Blair reminded party members that Labour had failed in the past when it resisted change. It succeeded in 1997 when it embraced "a fundamental recasting of progressive politics", but must do so again if it is to win a fourth term in 2009-10.
By then Mr Brown is all but certain to be Labour leader. His achievements as chancellor were praised by Mr Blair yesterday. Yet his talk of the future was all about what must be done to fulfil Labour's election pledges in the present parliament under his own leadership.
In a significant passage he said: "The danger of government is fatigue; the benefit, experience. I tell you my conclusion after eight years of being prime minister. The challenge we face is not in our values. It is how we put them into practice in a world fast-forwarding to the future at unprecedented speed."
Determined to demonstrate a new policy focus, he singled out a clutch of manifesto reforms planned for next year, including pensions, incapacity benefit, an energy white paper - tackling the nuclear option - and road pricing.
There was no good news from trade unionists and Labour traditionalists who have opposed his reform drive.
Indeed, he told his audience: "Every time I've introduced a reform in government, I wish in retrospect I had gone further."
Mr Blair added: "The world is on the move again; the change in the early 21st century is even greater than that of the late 20th century.
"So now, in turn, we have to change again. Not step back from New Labour but step up to a new mark a changing world is setting for us".
"The pace of change can either overwhelm us, or make our lives better and our country stronger. What we can't do is pretend it is not happening.
"I hear people say we have to stop and debate globalisation. You might as well debate whether autumn should follow summer," he said.
"They're not debating it in China and India. Yes, both nations still have millions living in poverty. But they are on the move."
But while warning of the dangers of complacency with regard to Asian nations, he reminded delegates that Britain was on an economic high in Europe. "This is a country today that increasingly sets the standard," the prime minister said. "Not for us the malaise of France or the angst of Germany".
Mr Blair tackled his close relationship with President George W Bush, a source of huge irritation for many activists, defiantly insisting: "Britain should also remain the strongest ally of the US . . . I never doubted after September 11th that our place was alongside America and I don't doubt it now."
And he insisted that British forces will remain in Iraq for the time being, saying: "The way to stop the innocent dying is not to retreat, to withdraw, to hand these people over to the mercy of religious fanatics or relics of Saddam, but to stand up for their right to decide their government in the same democratic way the British people do."
Blair loyalists among MPs and ministers acknowledged what one called "the speech of a man who has a clear desire to do a lot more" and another that of "a prime minister with gas in his tank". Campaign group MPs like John McDonnell dismissed it as the "tired, rhetorical flourishes" of a failed leader. Trade union leaders were kinder and Bill Hayes, the communication workers leader, called it "a legacy speech". But they rejected his anti-protectionist message as a threat to workers and urged him to step aside soon.
Asked when that would happen, Cherie Blair told BBC TV yesterday: "Darling, that is a long way in the future." - (Guardian Service)