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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GUSTAVE JAEGER who wrote (14708)	9/29/1999 5:19:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 17770

Gus, you did not disclose to the thread that Tony is your cousin... Blair moves in for the kill By George Jones, Political Editor TONY BLAIR declared war yesterday on establishment ‚lites in the professions, civil service and leading universities who, he said, were blocking New Labour's programme of modernisation. He said his ambition was to make Labour the dominant political force of the next century by liberating people from the "forces of conservatism". Mr Blair said that those forces - often in the form of Tory MPs - had sought to block many of the century's great achievements, including votes for women and the creation of the National Health Service. Allied to racism, they were responsible for the death of Martin Luther King, keeping Nelson Mandela in prison for the best years of his life and the death of Stephen Lawrence "for no other reason than that he was born black". As 16,000 chanting, horn-blowing countryside supporters laid siege to the party conference in Bournemouth, the Prime Minister said that the supporters of foxhunting represented the forces holding back the country. The pro-hunt rally, organised by the Countryside Alliance, attracted people from all over Britain and brought the town to a standstill as Mr Blair prepared to make his keynote speech. It was the biggest demonstration at a Labour conference for more than 20 years. Mr Blair received an enthusiastic cheer when he underlined Labour's hostility to hunting with hounds and mocked the demonstrators. He said at the start of his speech: "Here we go - tally-ho." He added that the demonstration meant that "there has not been a safer day for British foxes for years". Referring to the Tory Party's support for foxhunting, the former Chilean leader Gen Pinochet and hereditary peers, he said: "The uneatable, the unspeakable and the unelectable." Although Mr Blair declared that the old class war was over, he said that Labour was engaged in a crusade to build a new model Britain for the 21st century, in which there was equality of opportunity for all and every citizen's worth was respected. While stressing his Government's achievements in its first two and a half years, he acknowledged that it had more to do to meet the expectations of its supporters. He felt in "every fibre of my being" the frustration that more had not been done to help poor pensioners or end child poverty. But while the country had not been transformed, the foundations of a "new Britain" were being laid. A constant theme of probably the most Left-wing speech he has made since becoming party leader was his call for a new national moral purpose, which he said was aimed at giving all children the best chance in life. Branding the Tories under William Hague as "weak and weird", he appropriated the "set the people free" slogan Winston Churchill used against the post-war Labour government. Labour would attack the old class divisions and old prejudices that were preventing people from fulfilling their true potential: "The old ‚lites, establishments that have run our professions and our country too long. "Who have kept women and black and Asian talent out of our top jobs and senior parts of government and the Services; who keep our bright inner city kids from our best universities. And who still think the House of Lords should be run by hereditary peers in the interests of the Tory Party." Mr Blair singled out for criticism the British Medical Association, which has demanded a slow-down in reforms, such as new NHS walk-in centres that have challenged the monopoly of family doctors. Officials said later that Mr Blair wanted to modernise the country's institutions, including the civil service, the media and industry, from "top to bottom". While he was not seeking equal incomes or ways of life, he wanted equal access to knowledge and opportunity. Mr Blair set his sights on what he described as Labour's "unfinished business": achieving a second full term in power for the first time in the party's 100-year history. He announced a œ26 million fillip for the NHS, with booked appointments for cancer and cataract patients from next year; promised that the Government would halt the run-down of NHS dentistry; confirmed his commitment to new legislation to combat drugs; and announced extra resources for the creation of a nationwide DNA database to help trap criminals. Setting a new target of 50 per cent of young adults going into higher education in the next century, Mr Blair said that the Government was seeking to encourage 16- to 18-year-olds to stay on at school by developing a smart card offering them discounts in shops and on buses. But the small print of the subsequent Goverment announcement showed that the card would also enable the authorities to "monitor and track" the attendance of young people at school. The thrust of the speech was to answer the accusations that Mr Blair has been too cautious since the election and has disappointed many traditional supporters. In a highly personal section, reminscent of speeches by President Clinton, he said that it was "lonely" at the top. He could not sleep at times because of the life and death decisions he faced. But while he was often seen meeting presidents, kings and queens, what mattered most to him was "getting my sleeves rolled up" and pushing through changes that would help others to achieve the good education he had received. His officials said that in the emotional passages of his speech Mr Blair wanted to show activists that he shared their values and beliefs, despite forcing the party to change and modernise. The Prime Minister promised that the Government would spend more on health and education "year on year", provided the economy continued to do well. He insisted that Britain's destiny was with the EU. He wanted to leave behind the half-heartedness that had characterised our relations with Europe. As for joining the euro, that depended on economic conditions. Mr Blair received an enthusiastic standing ovation. John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB union, praised his "missionary zeal" and said that he thought he had heard a hint of socialism. telegraph.co.uk