Blair insists policies stay in spite of 'tough times'
Embattled party leader tries to shift focus from Hutton inquiry to domestic agenda and dismisses notion of standing down
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Your support makes all the difference.Tony Blair admitted that he had run into "tough times" in recent months yesterday but vowed he would not "change course" on the main planks of his domestic political agenda.
The Prime Minister echoed Margaret Thatcher's "the lady's not for turning" speech to the Conservative Party conference in 1980, when she defied her critics in the party. He faces a rough ride at next week's TUC conference and the Labour conference three weeks later on Iraq, foundation hospitals, tuition fees and public-private partnerships.
Asked at his monthly Downing Street press conference if he was having "a Thatcher moment", Mr Blair replied: "I don't know how you are going to describe it. I think you are going to have to take it as a Blair moment for the moment."
Dismissing the idea that he might stand down, he said: "I carry on doing the job because I believe in what I am doing .... It has been a tough time for obvious reasons. I do not believe that we should change our course, because we believe in it." He knew that there was concern "about whether that course that I set out is right" but "I have total confidence that however tough the times have been, we will win through".
His attempt to use the press conference to shift the spotlight back to the Government's domestic policies was undermined by a barrage of questions on the growing problems in Iraq and the Hutton inquiry.
Mr Blair refused to discuss the inquiry, saying that it was for Lord Hutton to "do the judging". He acknowledged that there was a "serious situation" in Iraq but he expressed caution about a call from the Foreign Office for the number of British troops stationed there to be increased by 50 per cent to 15,000.
Hailing "evidence of significant progress" on domestic issues, Mr Blair said: "None of this progress has been achieved except by change and reform." Conceding that the Government had not fully explained the reasons for its reforms, he said: "Our immediate task is to go out and seek to unify people around an understanding of what we are trying to achieve and why."
He suggested that would be a key task for the new Downing Street communications set-up announced on Wednesday after the resignation of Alastair Campbell. Asked if the changes would mean the "end of spin", Mr Blair said: "I think they will strengthen our ability to communicate in a proper and legitimate way." He urged the media to respond: "I think it is a two-way process. In the end both of us have got an interest in the public being less cynical and more open to the political argument," he said.
Mr Blair promised to listen to criticism and said that he would welcome a debate in Parliament, the Labour Party and the country about the controversial plan to allow universities to charge top-up fees. He hinted that there could be some fine-tuning but insisted that a new funding system was needed to prevent a financial crisis in higher education.
At the same time, he insisted that the decision to set up a forum to discuss public services with the trade unions did not mean any weakening of his reforms. He insisted that the Confederation of British Industry got "every bit as much access to us as the TUC".
The Prime Minister tried to quell speculation that a collapse in trust in him would kill the idea of a euro referendum before the next general election. He said the Government would return to the issue next year and claimed the arguments had not been changed by recent events.
The key quotes
On Iraq
"It is a serious situation ... We will win through in the end, I've no doubt about that at all."
On his problems
"It's been a tough time for obvious reasons. I do not believe we should change our course, because we believe in it."
On student top-up fees
"If we want to widen access to university, to make sure the education people are getting at university is top-quality education. To keep Britain with its university sector as one of our strengths, we've got to increase significantly the amount of money going to universities."
On the Hutton Inquiry
"Let the judge do the judging."
On his own future
"I do the job because I believe in what I am doing."
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