Blair to tell Labour Party to refresh itself for 'future realities'
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-27 13:42

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will tell his governing Labour Party to refresh its policies for a fast-changing world when he addresses its annual conference.

Having won its third straight general election just four months ago, Blair will tell Labour delegates in Brighton, on England's south coast, not to rest on their laurels, a Labour Party source said.

"Unless we own the future, unless our values are matched by a completely honest understanding of the reality now upon us, and the future realities about to hit us, we will fail," he will say, according to the source.

His speech is to dwell mainly on domestic issues such as health, education and transport, as well as law and order in the wake of the July 7 bombings in London in which 56 people died, including four apparent suicide bombers.

"It is this combination of detailed policies and New Labour values in the face of ever-faster change that will security a fourth successive New Labour victory," he is to say.

Blair will also mention Iraq, the source said on condition of anonymity, but steer clear of any indication as to when he might step down to make way for his powerful finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.

He is also certain to hail Monday's confirmation by an international panel that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has destroyed all its weapons, closing the chapter on its long armed struggle against British rule in Northern Ireland.

In his address to the conference on Monday, Brown indicated there would be no turning back on reforms launched under Blair, as he called for "a great British society" in which Labour would "dominate" the political centre.