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| Blair calls for halt to sniping | Blair calls for halt to sniping |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Labour must focus on policy and not infighting over its leadership to win the next election, Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned. | Labour must focus on policy and not infighting over its leadership to win the next election, Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned. |
| In his first public speech since saying he would 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 would step down within the year, he said Labour was "ideologically united" despite the "spasm" of the last week. |
| The comments come as former home secretary Charles Clarke criticised the PM's likely successor Gordon Brown. | |
| Mr Blair said attacks within the party "turns the public off". | Mr Blair said attacks within the party "turns the public off". |
| He was making the keynote speech at the 10th anniversary conference of the Progress Organisation, in central London. | He was making the keynote speech at the 10th anniversary conference of the Progress Organisation, in central London. |
| He said: "We're three years away from an election and we can remake ourselves." | He 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 Mr Blair said this can only be achieved "by behaving like we did when we were hungry for power before 1997". | But Mr Blair said this can only be achieved "by behaving like we did when we were hungry for power before 1997". |
| He said the party then understood the country and not itself mattered. | He said the party then understood the country and not itself mattered. |
| Mr Blair added: "We can either - after the kind of spasm of last week 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 added: "We can either - after the kind of spasm of last week 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. | 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," he said. | "What the people out there want to know are the answers to their difficult questions and the challenges of their lives," he 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." |
| One party activist, who heard Mr Blair's speech, called on the party to stop the "squabbling". | One party activist, who heard Mr Blair's speech, called on the party to stop the "squabbling". |
| Diana Stromberg, from the Bedfordshire constituency party, said: "This has got to stop. | Diana Stromberg, from the Bedfordshire constituency party, said: "This has got to stop. |
| "If I was a mother with a son coming back from Afghanistan in a body-bag (and this is happening weekly if not daily), it is an insult to have a government carrying on like this." | "If I was a mother with a son coming back from Afghanistan in a body-bag (and this is happening weekly if not daily), it is an insult to have a government carrying on like this." |
| A handful of protesters were involved in scuffles with police when Mr Blair arrived for the speech as they tried to get past barriers. | A handful of protesters were involved in scuffles with police when Mr Blair arrived for the speech as they tried to get past barriers. |
| Three men were arrested for violent disorder and are being held at a north London station, said Scotland Yard. | Three men were arrested for violent disorder and are being held at a north London station, said Scotland Yard. |
| '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. | 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 an interview with the Evening Standard. | Mr Clarke had already branded the chancellor - who is widely expected to succeed Mr Blair - as "absolutely stupid" in an interview with the Evening Standard. |
| 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. |