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| Blair calls for halt to sniping | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Tony Blair has warned that Labour had to focus on policy and not infighting to win the next election. | Tony Blair has warned that Labour had to focus on policy and not infighting to win the next election. |
| In his first public speech since saying he will step down within the year he said Labour was "ideologically united" despite the "spasm" of the last week. | In his first public speech since saying he will step down within the year he said Labour was "ideologically united" despite the "spasm" of the last week. |
| It came as former home secretary Charles Clarke again attacked the PM's likely successor Gordon Brown. | It came as former home secretary Charles Clarke again attacked the PM's likely successor Gordon Brown. |
| A handful of protesters were involved in scuffles with police as Mr Blair arrived at the central London venue. | A handful of protesters were involved in scuffles with police as Mr Blair arrived at the central London venue. |
| Mr Blair was making the keynote speech at the 10th anniversary conference of the Progress Organisation. | Mr Blair was making the keynote speech at the 10th anniversary conference of the Progress Organisation. |
| The prime minister said: "We're three years away from an election and we can remake ourselves. | The prime minister said: "We're three years away from an election and we can remake ourselves. |
| We go out, face out to the people, we succeed. We face inward - we lose Tony Blair | We go out, face out to the people, we succeed. We face inward - we lose Tony Blair |
| "But we can only do it - not by behaving as we did last week, but by behaving like we did when we were hungry for power before 1997, when we understood that what mattered in the end was the country and the people, and not ourselves." | "But we can only do it - not by behaving as we did last week, but by behaving like we did when we were hungry for power before 1997, when we understood that what mattered in the end was the country and the people, and not ourselves." |
| Mr Blair said: "We can either - after the kind of spasm of last week, you know, retreat into personal attacks... or we can say we are going in a mature, intelligent, and capable way to describe to the country what we've done." | Mr Blair said: "We can either - after the kind of spasm of last week, you know, retreat into personal attacks... or we can say we are going in a mature, intelligent, and capable way to describe to the country what we've done." |
| He said the government needed to address "difficult issues" such as the welfare state, global warming, security and migration. | |
| "What the people out there want to know are the answers to their difficult questions and the challenges of their lives," Mr Blair said. | "What the people out there want to know are the answers to their difficult questions and the challenges of their lives," Mr Blair said. |
| "What they don't want is to see a whole lot of politicians talking to themselves. So we go out, face out to the people, we succeed. We face inward - we lose." | "What they don't want is to see a whole lot of politicians talking to themselves. So we go out, face out to the people, we succeed. We face inward - we lose." |
| 'Control freak' | 'Control freak' |
| The attempt to heal wounds within the party comes as Mr Clarke spoke out amid mounting speculation about the end of Mr Blair's tenure as prime minister and the choice of a new leader. | |
| Mr Clarke had already branded the chancellor - who is widely expected to succeed Mr Blair - as "absolutely stupid" in a newspaper interview. | Mr Clarke had already branded the chancellor - who is widely expected to succeed Mr Blair - as "absolutely stupid" in a newspaper interview. |
| I am saying to everybody, all my colleagues, let's concentrate on the challenges that are out there Hazel Blears, Labour Party chair | I am saying to everybody, all my colleagues, let's concentrate on the challenges that are out there Hazel Blears, Labour Party chair |
| Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he accused Mr Brown of being unable to work with other people, as well as lacking the courage to take tough decisions . | Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he accused Mr Brown of being unable to work with other people, as well as lacking the courage to take tough decisions . |
| He said: "He is totally, totally uncollegiate. | He said: "He is totally, totally uncollegiate. |
| "From my own experience of dealing with student finance and ID cards, it was very, very difficult to work with him - very difficult indeed. | "From my own experience of dealing with student finance and ID cards, it was very, very difficult to work with him - very difficult indeed. |
| "It was the control freak thing. His massive weakness is that he can't work with people." | "It was the control freak thing. His massive weakness is that he can't work with people." |
| The former home secretary also said the chancellor was labouring under the "delusion" he could have beaten Blair for the Labour leadership if he had stood in 1994, when in fact he would have been "humiliated". | The former home secretary also said the chancellor was labouring under the "delusion" he could have beaten Blair for the Labour leadership if he had stood in 1994, when in fact he would have been "humiliated". |
| Mr Clarke had previously been seen as a close ally of Mr Blair, but said he was "furious" to have been sacked by the prime minister in May and denied he was "working in league with Tony Blair or Downing Street". | Mr Clarke had previously been seen as a close ally of Mr Blair, but said he was "furious" to have been sacked by the prime minister in May and denied he was "working in league with Tony Blair or Downing Street". |
| Labour Party chair Hazel Blears said she did not recognise Mr Clarke's description of the chancellor and such views were not widely shared across the government. | Labour Party chair Hazel Blears said she did not recognise Mr Clarke's description of the chancellor and such views were not widely shared across the government. |
| "I am saying to everybody, all my colleagues, let's concentrate on the challenges that are out there," she told the BBC. | "I am saying to everybody, all my colleagues, let's concentrate on the challenges that are out there," she told the BBC. |