----------------- ----------------- |  | | Last Updated: Wednesday, 30 July, 2003, 10:49 GMT 11:49 UK |
At-a-glance: Blair news conference
| Here are the main points raised at the monthly press conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair.Mr Blair began his press conference at 1001 BST.He started by delivering a brief statement in which he highlighted the fact that on Saturday his government becomes the longest serving Labour government of all time.Mr Blair pointed to high levels of investment in public services and economic stability under Labour.Britain was weathering global economic challenges well, said the prime minister. Mr Blair praised teachers and "dedicated NHS staff" and claimed that health waiting lists were falling.Reform and change as well as investment were key to improvements in the NHS, said the prime minister.On crime there had been real progress in reversing the number of street robberies but some violent crime was still increasing, said Mr Blair.Challenges remained over transport, the prime minister acknowledged. Mr Blair then handed over to Michael Barber from the Number 10 policy unit who talked about delivering government policy.He used graphs to demonstrate NHS performance under the New Labour government.Mortality rates from major killers such as coronary heart disease were down, said Mr Barber.Mr Barber also talked about tackling crime saying "rising tides are not inevitable".On crime and asylum the trends showed substantial falls, he argued.On transport, rail patronage had increased which should be welcomed but it had to recognised that it put stress on a system that had suffered underinvestment over the years, said Mr Barber.On roads, current performance was worse than in 1997 and there had been a lack of investment which had fallen in the decade up until 2000 while usage was still rising.Progress across the public services was taking place but that progress was not irreversible and the work needed to go on, said Mr Barber.Mr Blair then took questions from journalists.He said he accepted that the government still had to make the case that the war in Iraq was justified.The public would still judge the government on issues like schools and crime.Mr Blair said he would not comment on the status of any member of his staff when he was asked about Alastair Campbell's future.The prime minister acknowledged the relationship between politics and the media needed to be looked at again in the wake of the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.Mr Blair insisted the UK had weathered the economic slow down better than almost any other country.Overall levels of employment had increased under this government said the prime minister.The vast majority of people when questioned about their experience of the NHS would say they had received good service.Not everything was sorted but things in the NHS were getting better, Mr Blair argued.Mr Blair said the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr Kelly should be allowed to get on with its work and insisted all he had ever wanted when it came to the confrontation with the BBC was "an incorrect story corrected". The prime minister said it was important that everybody learned lessons from the Hutton inquiry which should be allowed to take its course.Asked whether he planned to stay on as prime minister for a full third term Mr Blair said his appetite for the job was undiminished but ultimately it was up to the voters.The prime minister refused to say whether he would resign if no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.Mr Blair insisted the intelligence that the UK government had received over Iraq was correct.Government debt had fallen "substantially" since Labour came to power, Mr Blair said.The prime minister said there was no doubt at all that the vast majority of people in Iraq were delighted that Saddam had been overthrown.Mr Blair said it was crucial that Saddam ceased to be an obstacle to peace in Iraq.The prime minister was asked how he could defend the shambles over the new child tax credit to which he said there were always problems when you set up anything new but that did not minimise the apology the government had already given.Mr Blair said people would come to a "considered view over a period of time" when it came to the action in Iraq. A lot of people did not really believe there was a threat arising from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction when in fact it was the major threat of the 21st century, Mr Blair argued.Mr Blair said the political crisis in Northern Ireland had not produced a security crisis.The prime minister again sent his condolences to the families of servicemen who died in Iraq but urged people to make their judgements on the basis of the evidence once the Iraq survey group had reported.Mr Blair said he had "misgivings" over the Israeli security fence but the only way of dealing with the Middle East situation was to sort out security issues.The prime minister acknowledged there was an issue over failed asylum seekers using the NHS but the only way to deal with asylum was to get the number of applications down.The prime minister said there was a case for ID cards but there were all sorts of logistical and financial barriers to be overcome first.Asked about taking action over North Korea, Mr Blair said that the reason that Iraq was the "right place to start" was because of the history of UN sanctions against the country.Mr Blair said Britain's position in Europe had transformed in the past six years.There was no desire in the EU to repeat the rifts that had occurred over the war with Iraq, said Mr Blair who went on to argue UK relations with Germany and France were good.Mr Blair said just because the US were sustaining greater causalities in post-war Iraq that did not mean Britain was doing better in the sectors it was running.The Americans faced challenging security issues.Mr Blair said Iraq had brought about the possibility of "real change" in the Middle East and the chance of change would draw other countries in.The prime minister said the issue of readmitting London Mayor Ken Livingstone to the Labour Party would be down to the National Executive Committee.Mr Blair said that the government had a "long way to go" and there were lots of things his administration could do better.Mr Blair said there was no doubt at all that Iraq had dominated much of the political agenda in the past year but the bulk of his time had been taken up with the public service agenda.The prime minister hailed plans for housing development in the Thames Gateway area but stressed drops in unemployment and the economic growth in the north east.The expansion of the housing programme was vital because not enough houses were being built although he acknowledged that more homes meant more challenges for infrastructure such as hospitals and schools.Mr Blair ended the press conference at 1116 BST.
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