TUC Conference: Blair urges national summit on hi-tech economy

TUC CONFERENCE Technological change is basic issue of our time, says Prime Minister as he calls for country-wide debate

TONY BLAIR called yesterday for a national summit between government, employees' leaders and captains of industry on the technological revolution sweeping the world economy.

In a conciliatory speech to the annual congress of the TUC, Tony Blair proposed a European-style social dialogue over the "knowledge economy", involving ministers, the Confederation of British Industry and union leaders.

The high-profile meeting next May would mark a significant departure for Mr Blair, who has shown a deep distrust of the traditional tripartite approach.

The Prime Minister told TUC delegates in Brighton that technological change was the "fundamental issue of our times" and needed the involvement of both sides of industry. The announcement came in a speech that acknowledged trade unions' attempts to modernise but warned them that "the challenge never stops".

He said: "Trade unions must be partners in change, not its enemies; they should even be champions of change."

He delivered his familiar warning about antediluvian trade unionism, but it was coupled with an acknowledgement that employees' leaders had a part to play. The address was in vivid contrast to his speech at the TUC conference months after Labour's general election victory, which many unionists described as "hectoring".

Downing Street sources said that on the train down to Brighton Mr Blair was far more relaxed than two years ago because a "more mature relationship" had developed between the Government and the unions.

But the Prime Minister acknowledged that some left-wingers were still critical of the Government. He warned them that they faced a choice between a "New Labour administration" and "some fantasy government where no hard decisions were taken and everything is put right over night".

He went on: "You run the unions. We run the Government. And we will never confuse the two again." There was no question of a return to the old days of secondary industrial action and mass pickets.

In an unscripted conclusion, he reminded TUC delegates that his administration had "its heart in the right place". He added: "This is a government that is on your side."

He said the party and the unions had become "politically liberated" from their old tensions and both had performed a better job as a consequence. "We have actually done more as a government in two years than virtually all of our predecessors. The trade union movement's standing today is higher than it has been for decades."

He reminded his audience that the Government had delivered a national minimum wage, enhanced employment rights and the "biggest-ever rise" in child benefit.

He conceded there was more to do to modernise schools and hospitals and to raise pensioners out of poverty. He pointed out that "every bit of progress" had been opposed by the Conservatives.

The union leaders later commended Mr Blair for his commitment to a high- powered meeting on the knowledge economy. Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, said that the Government had committed itself to the principle of social partnership. Sir Ken Jackson, general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, believed it could be the beginning of a "European-style dialogue".

Sir Ken, who is campaigning for Britain's entry into a single European currency, also welcomed the Prime Minister's assertion that Britain should be part of Europe and aspire to lead it. He also believed Mr Blair's tone had changed: "Last time he spoke to us he was hectoring. Now he's talking of partnership, rather than talking down to us."

John Edmonds, leader of the GMB general union, said his previous speech to the TUC as Prime Minister had been characterised by "stick and sound- bite"; this time he had adopted a far more reasoned approach.

Representatives of public sector workers welcomed his acknowledgement that unions had a duty to argue forcefully on behalf of their members.

Rodney Bickerstaffe, leader of the public sector union Unison, the Labour Party's largest affiliate, welcomed Mr Blair's comment that it was often the function of a union to "ask for more".

Mr Bickerstaffe said: "Next time we ask for more for pensioners and more on the minimum wage, we will say, `Tony Blair has said that it is part of our job.' " But he registered his disappointment that the Prime Minster had not praised the unions for their contribution to the Labour Party in its centenary year.

Tony Blair's speech to the TUC:

"Every year, this time of year I come to the TUC, And every year the Press report, There'll be a row between you and me.

"They say I'll come and beat a drum, Unleash the annual cry, `Change your ways, clean up your act, Modernise or die'.

"Well modernised you have, I say, New Labour, new unions too, Both for the future, not the past, For the many not the few.

"So the link between us changes, You've changed and so have we, You're welcome now in Number 10, But no beer today, just tea.

"And amid the change there's bound to be, A call for the link to end, What staggers me is the call should come, From the Left-wing firebrand Ken." (Ken Cameron, of the Fire Brigades Union).