UK will have black PM: Blair

Blair urged young blacks to widen their career hopes

Tony Blair has predicted the UK will have a black prime minister one day.

Addressing black religious leaders at the "Faith in the Future" conference in Brighton, the prime minister aimed to inspire young black people with career aspirations.

You, perhaps more than anyone, can gain from going in to politics

Tony Blair

Setting out his vision for a country with greater opportunities for all, he promised more anti-discrimination measures.

He encouraged young blacks to consider careers with the police and said he wanted to see more black ambassadors and permanent secretaries.

Recalling that people had once said there would never be a woman prime minister, but there was, he said: "One day, yes, one day, there will be a black prime minister too."

'Investment is key'

The Faith in the Future conference had been organised by the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance.

Mr Blair was aiming to seize back the political initiative after his last two major speeches became public relations disasters.

His proposals for on-the-spot fines for drunken louts at a speech in Germany last week were rejected as "unworkable" by police chiefs and in June he was heckled by members of the Women's Institute.

The religious audience, who gave Mr Blair a brief standing ovation even before he began speaking, greeted his speech enthusiastically.

The prime minister told the churches conference education was the key to opportunity, saying he believed investment in schools would give children the best start.

Helping to run schools

Focusing on the theme of change, Mr Blair said every school should be "comprehensive" in the sense of offering standards in education.

That meant head teachers having power, discipline and resources. Schools must focus on delivering better standards, he said - otherwise precious resources were being wasted.

"We can only raise these standards in partnership, can't we?" he said. It was essential that teachers, parents and communities have a stake in their schools.

The government wanted communities, including faith communities, to have a greater part in running schools, he said.

Mr Blair also hailed life-long learning.

"Technology changes so quickly adults can fall behind and skills must be updated throughout life", he said, announcing discounts on adult learning courses.

Discrimination crackdown

Too often opportunities at work were blunted by discrimination, he said, and everyone should work against it.

"We've got to do a lot, lot better as a country to open up opportunities," said Mr Blair.

He promised measures in the Comprehensive Spending Review later this month would tackle discrimination at the gateway into work.

Too much potential in the black community was thwarted, and too many young people felt cut off and excluded, he said, calling for more ethnic minorities in working life.

He acknowledged relations between the black community and the police had not always been good but appealed to young blacks not to rule out a police career as it was important for the police to represent the whole community.

And he went on: "You, perhaps more than anyone, can gain from going in to politics," he told them.

There was great applause as he offered the vision of a future black premier.

Later on Thursday, the prime minister will take questions from the public on a special edition of BBC1's Question Time programme.