Testing time "We've never been here before. We've never come this far. Never governed for so long. Now with the prospect of a full third term. But it's a testing time."
He asked delegates: "Do we give up on it or get on with it?"
"We've been far better at defeating ourselves than the Tories have ever been. For too many of our 100 years we have been a well-intentioned pressure group."  |  Yes, this is a testing time. But it is a test not just of belief but of character. And the time is for renewal, not retreat  |
Mr Blair spoke of a "ritual" to Labour governments: euphoria in victory, hard slog in government, party accuses leadership of betrayal, leadership accuses party of ingratitude, disillusion and finally defeat.
He said he was surprised it had taken so long for things to get so tough for the government.
"I'm older, tougher and more experienced, but basically I am the same person, believing the same things."
| I can only go one way. I've not got a reverse gear. Any politician can do the popular things, I know. I used to do a few of them |
"The reason I bang the drum for change is that I get angry it takes so long... I want us to go faster and further."
He recalled that New Labour's journey to government began in the same conference hall in 1985, under Neil Kinnock, with the "absurd" militant, Arthur (Scargill) and "all that nonsense".
He remembered getting to his feet in the middle of Mr Kinnock's speech, "the hall split asunder, my heart pounding, wondering if this was the beginning or the end. What I learnt that day was not about the far left. It was about leadership. Get rid of the false choice: principles or no principles. Replace it with the true choice."
"I've never led this party by calculation. Policy you calculate, leadership comes by instinct."
Iraq and terrorism Mr Blair said he knew Iraq had divided the international community, the country, party, family and friends.
He appealed for people to understand why he took the decision he did "and why I would take the same decision again".
| I know many people are disappointed, hurt and angry |
"Those British soldiers who died are heroes, he said, adding: "We who started the war should finish the peace."
Drawing parallels between Saddam's actions in power and intelligence on terrorism and the "murky trade" in weapons of mass destruction, he said: "I believe the security threat of the 21st century is not countries waging conventional war. I believe that in today's inter-dependent world the threat is chaos. It is fanaticism defeating reason."
If terrorists mounting a chemical, biological or nuclear dirty bomb attack was the threat of the 21st century, "Britain should be in there helping confront it, not because we are America's poodle, but because dealing with it will make Britain safer".
Terrorism could not be defeated unless America and Europe were united, Mr Blair went on. In a later passage he told delegates he had received letters from mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq, some believing they had died in vain and others that they had not.
"Don't believe anyone who tells you when they receive letters like that they don't suffer any doubt." Policy He spoke of launching a new dialogue with the people of Britain, the biggest policy consultation that had ever taken place in the country.
"A progressive, imaginative, vibrant public debate about how we build a future fair for all."
Appealing for it not to turn into a "soap opera", Mr Blair said people deserved better from politicians and "with respect, parts of the media too". | I know the old top-down approach won't work any more. I know I can't say 'I am the leader, follow me' |
Turning to specific policy areas, he said: "It is madness for Britain to give up the option of joining the European single currency,"
He pledged the abolition of the remaining hereditary peers would be a job soon completed.
On criminal justice he said: "It is not the innocent being convicted that concerns so much, it is too many of the guilty going free... and always the poorest on the front line."
"We cannot say we live in a just society if we do not put an end to anti-social behaviour and conduct that we wouldn't tolerate from our own children and should not have to tolerate from someone else's."
On immigration, Mr Blair said "Britain should always be open to refugees", but the government wanted to cut back the "ludicrously complicated" appeals process, derail the "gravy train" of legal aid, fast-track claims from democratic countries and remove failed claimants "without further judicial interference".
A fair system was the best defence against racism gaining ground, he insisted. It made sense to ask whether identity cards were no longer an affront to civil liberties but a way of protecting them. Health and education Referring to his party's increased education and NHS funding he said: "This money isn't wasted... it's there in bricks and mortar helping the people of this country."
"We are beginning at long last to reward the dedicated public-service staff for the superb job that they do."
He said as the world changed, people had to recognise that one size did not fit all.
| Choice has always been there for the well-off. What is unfair is not the right to choose or the pursuit of excellence, but where that depends on your wealth and not on your need |
He said he did not want the middle classes fighting to get out of the state system, but fighting to get into it - albeit on equal terms with working class-patients and children.
Defending Foundation Hospitals, Mr Blair refered to how they were opposed by an alliance of the British Medical Association, the House of Lords, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats. "What are we: a progressive party? If we had listened to that alliance, we would never have had an NHS in the first place."
The fight ahead for a fair future began with the number one priority: education.
"Now at any age, at any stage, education is the surest guarantee of a fairer future."
Every individual was being given the chance to fulfil their potential.
As children were helped at every stage to learn, the government was turning higher education from a privilege for the few to a right for many.
Defending the government's higher education funding plans, he said the full cost could not be provided by the taxpayer.
The Tories' plans would cut university numbers, he said, while the Liberal Democrats' proposed rise in top-rate tax was supposed to pay for 40 different items as well as higher education funding. A personalised NHS could not be run by remote control. The aim, Mr Blair said, was not to privatise but to revitalise the public service. Opponents and the next election The party's purpose in government was to rebuild "the public realm", to rediscover the virtues of decency, tolerance and respect, he said.
He said he stuck at it because "I know what's there if we stumble" - not government where money grows on trees but "the old Tory days".
The Tories succeeded when people believed politics could not change lives. | We have the possibility of that historic third term, a historic realignment of political forces in this country. It is a big challenge, but we are up to it, so let it be done |
"We are far better at defeating ourselves than the Tories have ever been."
New Labour had emerged, hated and feared by its opponents, and by occupying the centre ground, it had helped turn the Tories into what Labour had once been.
The Tories looked at their party and saw contempt. "They hate us even more because they think we are responsible - and in many ways we are." > | We always knew the Tories hadn't got a heart. Their problem now is they haven't got a heartland |
At the next election, he said, Labour would not be fighting for votes with the hard left. "We will be fighting the hard right - the Tory party."
"They run down the NHS because they know if we can change our state schools and NHS for the better, they are back where they have never been for 100 years - a party of opposition, and not even a good one at that."
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