It needed to blow away the fog that is designed to cloud the sight

It needed to “blow away the fog that is designed to cloud the sight of it and work even harder to translate it into reality.”He admitted there was a danger that in the day-to-day business of government that Labour “lost sight of the destination”. It was time, he said, to “lift our eyes from the immediate and hold high again the ideal we are striving for. And return to work with renewed energy and determination”.Mr Blair said it suited New Labour’s critics to say it was unprincipled but it was about much more than winning power. Changing the party’s traditional policies was never the right reason for changing them and could not sustain Labour over the long term. The right reason for change was a principled one, translating Labour’s values into practice for today’s world: “The modern Labour Party is here to stay because it is based on values and principle; and is the right way forward for us and the country. So we should have confidence, hold firm to our course and above all, hold true to the basis of New Labour.”Mr Blair said New Labour had been through three stages. The first phase was becoming a modern centre-left party after its 1992 election defeat.

The second was laying firm foundations after winning power in 1997, especially on the economy. Now New Labour had entered a third phase, driving forward its reforms, building lasting change and a better society.He outlined his four key goals as extending prosperity and full employment to all parts of the country; “investment and reform” for public services; tackling crime, anti-social behaviour and poverty, and a “battle against sceptics and phobes to get Britain back again at the top table of Europe.”Mr Blair added: “The centre of gravity of British politics is moving in our direction. A new post-Thatcherite progressive consensus is being born and it is one we should be proud of.”In all sorts of small ways – from banning handguns, to the equal age of consent, to the trebling of women MPs and the first black ministers and Muslim MPs – the country has a different feel to the harshness of the Thatcher years.” But he admitted there was still “a huge amount” left to do.David Davis, the Tory chairman, said: “This relaunch is an admission that the Government has run out of ideas. It is yet another cosmetic gimmick from a Government which has no clue about the way forward for health, transport, education and crime. They have tried initiative after initiative, but all we see are things getting worse.”How Labour is faring on four key areas of policy HealthThe biggest problem with the National Health Service is the same as it was when Labour came to power in 1997: access. The quality of care is highly rated by those with direct experience of it but getting access remains difficult True, the longest waiting lists are coming down.

By the end of this month no one should face a wait of more than 15 months, in line with the target set out in the NHS Plan almost two years ago. But the next targets, which require cutting that maximum to six months by 2005 and reducing outpatient waiting to a maximum of 13 weeks, will be more challenging The reason is the lack of capacity in the system. Pumping in more money ­ the NHS has enjoyed the largest sustained rise in its history ­ cannot produce more treated patients overnight. The shortage of doctors, nurses and beds is being addressed but it will take a decade before we see real results.