Blair: 'No Budget giveaways'

The prime minister says Labour has the upper hand

Prime Minister Tony Blair has again ruled out any major pre-election budget giveaway - saying it is time to "invest, invest, invest".

Mr Blair told the Welsh Labour conference in Swansea that voters would face a clear choice between continued public investment or cuts and privatisation.

He said: "We cannot afford another dose of public services on the cheap.

It is time to ask what we can invest as a country for the next generation.

Tony Blair

"We cannot cut back on the services and opportunities that give us strength.

"That is why the budget next week has got to be a budget for continuing economic stability, low mortgages, good for business and for investment in public services."

Mr Blair added: "It is time to ask not what we can give away for the next election but what we can invest as a country for the next generation."

The Prime Minister rallied supporters around the themes of economic competence and fairness.

Earning trust

Mindful of appearing complacent with polls continuing to show high levels of support for Labour, Mr Blair promised never to take people for granted.

"We have to work day in, day out, to earn trust and then to re-earn it", he said.

But he insisted that the government was "winning the big arguments that dominate the political debate".

Blair: "Invest, invest, invest"

He said: "For the first time, in two or more decades, we have the intellectual and political upper hand in the political debate.

"Economic stability is now the goal that everyone accepts.

"Investment in public services is accepted as the key challenge."

Labour's agenda and that of the country were "at one".

The choice of the party would always be to "invest, invest, invest in the future of this country because it is the only thing which can bring opportunity to all the people in this country and not just a privileged few".

Solidarity

Mr Blair roused delegates by committing his party to the "S" word, and placing it at the heart of Labour's conscience.

Not socialism, but solidarity, which he said was "one of the oldest values this party has ever expressed".