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Tories 'to carry on Blair reform' Tories 'to carry on Blair reform'
(29 minutes later)
The Tories are best placed to carry on Tony Blair's public service reforms, the shadow chancellor is to say. The Conservatives are best placed to carry on Tony Blair's public service reforms, the shadow chancellor says.
George Osborne will accuse Labour of planning to abandon the reforms and say the language used by deputy leadership candidates shows a "lurch to the left". George Osborne claimed Gordon Brown, the next prime minister, had "abandoned the centre ground of public service reform to the Conservative Party".
In a speech, he will say that Gordon Brown does not share Mr Blair's support for "choice" in public services. The Tories would therefore have "a great opportunity to improve life for the many, not the few", he added.
Mr Blair has called for personalised services which allow people to choose schools and hospitals.Mr Blair has called for personalised services which allow people to choose schools and hospitals.
In a policy review published in March, he said people wanted services better tailored to their needs, and more choice, in the review setting out policy for the next decade. Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Blair's ideas on choice were right, but said he had been wrong to impose them from Whitehall.
Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm saying work with the public service professionals, work with teachers, work with doctors to give them much greater power over their local services and to give the users of these services...the choice that is the driver of improvement in every other walk of life." He said: "I'm saying work with the public service professionals, work with teachers, work with doctors to give them much greater power over their local services and to give the users of these services... the choice that is the driver of improvement in every other walk of life and can be the driver of improvement in public services.
He said Mr Brown had "abandoned the centre ground of public service reform to the Conservative party". "The fact that Gordon Brown has abandoned the centre ground of public service reform to the Conservative Party is a great opportunity for us to improve life... for the many not the few."
'Growing consensus''Growing consensus'
In a speech later to the Policy Exchange think tank, Mr Osborne will say that while the Tories and Mr Blair agreed on "the essentials of the way forward", Mr Brown - who will take over as prime minister - was not part of the "growing consensus". In a speech later to the Policy Exchange think tank, Mr Osborne will say that while the Tories and Mr Blair agreed on "the essentials of the way forward", Mr Brown, due to take over by the end of June, was not part of the "growing consensus".
He is expected to say that the deputy leadership race shows Labour is abandoning the centre ground. He told Today that the deputy leadership debate on Newsnight on Tuesday had shown that Labour was poised to move to the left, abandoning the centre ground.
The roadblocks to reform are being put into place George OsborneThe roadblocks to reform are being put into place George Osborne
"The people around Gordon Brown are now also making the case against choice and diversity - and challenging the key elements of the Blair settlement," he will say."The people around Gordon Brown are now also making the case against choice and diversity - and challenging the key elements of the Blair settlement," he will say.
"Trust schools abandoned. Private sector input rejected. Choice - the very heart of reform - now dismissed as a 'fetish' and an 'obsession' by those closest to the next prime minister. "Trust schools abandoned; private sector input rejected; choice - the very heart of reform - now dismissed as a 'fetish' and an 'obsession' by those closest to the next prime minister.
"The roadblocks to reform are being put into place.""The roadblocks to reform are being put into place."
The Tories say public services should become less "top-down", with more decisions made locally.The Tories say public services should become less "top-down", with more decisions made locally.
Mr Osborne will say they would place "no limit" on the number of academies that could be created and would let parents take their child and their funding to a new school, if they were not happy with performance. Mr Osborne will say they would place "no limit" on the number of academies that could be created and would let parents take their child and their funding to a new school if they were not happy with performance.
In healthcare, budgets should be devolved to GPs and patients, rather than "large bureaucracies like primary care trusts", he will say.In healthcare, budgets should be devolved to GPs and patients, rather than "large bureaucracies like primary care trusts", he will say.
And disabled people would be given their own cash allocations, a personalised budget, to give them control over how the money is spent.And disabled people would be given their own cash allocations, a personalised budget, to give them control over how the money is spent.
Mr Brown has said that personalised services are the next stage of improving public services and has promoted the idea of personalised tuition to stop primary school children slipping behind. Mr Brown has said that personalised services are the next stage of improving public services, has backed academy schools and rejected any suggestion that he would lead the Labour Party off the political centre ground.