If Gordon Brown's speech yesterday showed he is fit to lead the Labour party, then Tony Blair's address to conference today showed beyond any doubt why he has led the country for nearly 10 years.There was a mood of celebration before Tony Blair's valedictory address. Delegates held up signs saying "Things Got Better" and "Thank U Tony" as the Prime Minister entered the hall, accompanied by his wife Cherie.
This was always going to be an emotional occassion, but even hard-bitten hacks such as politicsjunkie were moved and impressed by the scope of Blair's hour-long address, as he reminded Labour activists of just how much they had achieved in the last ten years.
Mr Blair was greeted by a 50 second ovation before he said a word. The party wanted to show its love and he reciprocated by thanking the party, its workers and supporters for, "giving me the extraordinary privilege of leading you these past 12 years."
He praised his outgoing deputy John Prescott, and thanked his family, Cherie and the children, and made light of yesterday's alleged outburst by Mrs Blair that Gordon Brown was a liar.
"At least I don't have to worry about her running off with the bloke next door," he said. The Prime Minister also paid tribute to his constituency agent and the people of Sedgfield, and launched into an examination of why Labour had been successful.
Politics starts with people, he told delegates, and being a fully paid up member of the human race should come before being a member of a party.
Mr Blair harked back to his first speech as leader in 1994, and commented on how dated it seemed now, dated because of the progress made under the Labour government. He cited the three million children living in poverty, gay people denied equal rights, workers on slave wages without a minimum legal protection, crumbling schools and hospitals.
"This was a country aching for change and ... we must dwell on what has been achieved" he told conference. Civil partnerships for gay people, a minimum wage, virtually no long-term unemployed, a London mayor "thankfully Labour again!" and self rule for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It was a powerful affirmation of a country changed.
Blair painted a picture of the Labour party in 2006, whose core vote was not any group of society but the country itself, and mocked the Tories for "having to pretend they love it all, they fall over themselves to tell us how much they agree with us."
The Prime Minister urged his party to learn the lessons of his leadership, that values unrelated to modern reality are devalued.
"Government takes its toll, that is the nature of the beast. Gossip and controversy are so much more newsworthy than real news.
"You can't go on forever. It is hard to let go but it is right to let go for you and for the country," he told conference, adding that the only legacy he cares about is a fourth election victory.
Mr Blair said he wanted to heal the party, and to that end he paid a fulsome tribute to the Chancellor, his most likely successor, saying "I know that New Labour would never have happened or three election victories secured, without Gordon Brown. He is a remarkable servant to this country and that is the truth."
The Prime Minister went on to give some advice to the party after he has left the stage. He told delegates that the challenges facing Britain in 2007 dwarfed those of 1997. The nature of the problems we face are global, on all fronts - the economy, energy, climate change and education.
He said that in 1997 he would have opposed environmental obligations on businesses, a ban on junk food advertising aimed at children and more nuclear power stations. Now he supports them all, and he urged the party to renew policy in line with the new challenges the country faces.
He announced a radical energy and economic review to meet those new challenges, but also made clear there is opportunity in this new world. He referred to 'the Google generation' and how the internet will continue to transform our working lives.
Blair reminded delegates of the investment in public services and the change in culture in the NHS, state education and the welfare state. He told the party that if they continue his blueprint, "we will have earned the right to be the custodians of our public services for the next generation."
He then talked about the threat of terrorism, saying "nothing we strive for can be achieved without America or without Europe."
He told conference that action in Africa and peace in Lebanon would be defeats for terrorism, and rejected the idea that foreign policy had caused the July 7th attacks on London.
The Prime Minister committed himself in his remaining time in office to advancing the peace process in the Middle East. He also said that action must be taken in Darfur, "showing that an African life is worth as much as a Western one will defeat terrorism too."
"We will not win until we shake ourselves free of the propaganda of the enemy that we are somehow responsible" he said. "This is not our war against Islam but against the extremists who pervert the faith of Islam."
"If we retreat now we will not be safer, we will be committing a craven act of surrender," he said, adding that not an hour passes without him relfecting on British troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mr Blair dismissed the argument that ID cards are an attack on human rights in the UK, telling conference that the victim of an unsolved crime has his or her human rights violated and that a community suffering from anti-social behaviour has its rights breached.
"Let liberty stand up for the law abiding in this country," he said, "we can only protect liberty by making it relevant to the modern world."
He added that his controversial DNA database, whereby anyone arrested must give a sample to police, had already helped apprehend hundreds of murderers and thousands of rapists.
Mr Blair then gave some advice about how to deal with the resurgent Conservative party. "Get after them!" he told conference, to enthusiastic applause.
He lampooned David Cameron's views on the economy, foreign affairs, tax and human rights. A granny being harassed by an anti-social youth must merely give the teenager a nice big hug, he mocked.
"If we can't take this lot apart in the next few years we shouldn't be in business of politics at all," he told cheering delegates.
In a unique moment in his premiership, Mr Blair told a story about his children, 'my boys' as he called them. Mr Blair never talks about his children, and has made a point of trying to protect them from the media.
Nicholas and Euan, out canvassing for their father at the last election, were greeted with abuse by one householder, forthright in his opinion that Tony Blair is a hateful man. When Euan pointed out that Tony Blair is his father, the man immediately apologised and asked him in for a cup of tea. The PM used this anecdote to make the point that British people are fundamentally decent, and understand that leading the country is difficult.
In his final remarks, Mr Blair spoke of his love for the Labour party.
"They say I hate the Labour party and its traditions. I don't. I love this party - and the only tradition I hated was losing.
"I don't want to be THE leader who won three successive elections, I want to be the FIRST Labour leader to win three successive elections."
He told the party that he will always be with them, always wanting them to win, and they responded with an emotional standing ovation for the man who gave them everything they ever dreamed of, and more.
"You are the future now, so make the most of it."
