Blair Issues Call for Tolerance and Unity in Final Labour Conference Address

Prime Minister Tony Blair has given his final Labour Party Conference speech as leader, Tuesday 26 September, and has urged the party to unite and move forward together to win a fourth term.

|PIC1|Received with a standing ovation, Blair told the Labour members: "You're the future now, make the most of it."

Bringing reconciliation between himself and Chancellor Gordon Brown, he said, "I know New Labour would never have happened and three election victories would never have been secured without Gordon Brown."

Brown had played his part to bond with Blair in his conference speech on Monday when he said it had been a privilege to serve under his premiership.

Blair returned the compliment, saying: "He is a remarkable man, a remarkable servant to this country - and that is the truth."

Blair also spoke about religious issues prominent across the globe. He said that Christians, Muslims as well as people of all convictions should reconcile in common beliefs and values.

|QUOTE|In particular, the Prime Minister asked for all members of society to rally together in tolerance and freedom, rather than sectarian hatred.

He highlighted common themes that Britain holds with the United States and Europe, and promised to take action on Israel-Palestine and Africa.

With the Conservative Party currently ahead in the opinion polls, Mr Blair urged people to remember there were three years until the next election.

"Don't ignore the polls but don't be paralysed by them either," he said.

Addressing the achievements since the Labour Party took over government, Blair emphasised the increased standards in education, health and cutting crime.

He spoke directly about his foreign policies, and defended his decisions to fight terrorism full-on, although he only briefly mentioned the war on Iraq.

He warned that the terrorism threat facing the UK would last for "a generation and more" and people had to stand up to "enemy propaganda".

"This terrorism is not our fault, we didn't cause it," he said. "It's not the consequence of foreign policy, it's an attack on our way of life."

Blair's advice for the next election was that Labour had to get the correct balance between openness and security, as well as continuing reforms to Britain's public services.

Speaking for the Christian Socialist Movement after Blair's speech, Stephen Beer (also of the Methodist Church) said that Mr Blair's stress on facing up to hard decisions was right, according to Ekklesia.

Blair concluded, telling the conference: "The danger in all this, for us, is not ditching New Labour. The danger is failing to understand that New Labour in 2007 won't be New Labour in 1997."

The Prime Minister received a rapturous ovation as he left the stage, as he said: "The truth is you can't go on forever, that's why it is right that this is my last conference as leader.

"Of course it is hard to let go. But it is also right to let go. For the country, and for you, the party. Over the coming months, I will take through the changes I have worked on so hard these past years, and I will help build a unified party with a strong platform for the only legacy that has ever mattered to me - a fourth term election victory that allows us to keep changing Britain for the better."