Tony Blair will unveil a Labour manifesto today outlining sweeping reforms of the public sector that will give private firms a greater role in the provision of state-run services.
The Prime Minister will risk the wrath of Labour traditionalists by warning that trade unions representing public sector workers will not be allowed to block his plans to transform education, health, transport and other services.
In his introduction to the manifesto, Mr Blair will declare: "There will be no ideological bar to the nature of reform and no vested interests standing in our way." He will add: "The spirit of enterprise should apply as much to public services as to business."
The 44page, 28,000 word manifesto, Ambitions for Britain, will be launched by Mr Blair and his Cabinet in an attempt to underline a pledge to decentralise power from Westminster and Whitehall if Labour wins a second term.
Updating Mr Blair's "contract" with the people in his 1997 manifesto, the new document will set out key goals to be achieved by 2010. It also outlines 25 "next steps" covering five areas: "prosperity for all"; world-class public services; a modern welfare state; strong and safe communities; and a Britain "strong in the world".
The emphasis on 10-year plans suggests that Mr Blair hopes to win a big enough majority to secure Labour three successive terms in office, a move that may provoke charges that he is echoing Margaret Thatcher's hopes for "10 more years" in power. Mr Blair will argue that the Government has shown its commitment to the key public services by pumping in billions of pounds. "The deal is there must be reform as well," he will say.
Labour leaders will deny that greater private sector involvement will amount to the privatisation of public services.
The manifesto will finally confirm Labour's pledge not to raise the basic or higher rate of income tax, which party leaders hope will insulate them against Tory attacks over tax.
Yesterday the Tories were again on the defensive as they sought to play down hints by a Shadow Cabinet member that the party might achieve tax cuts of £20bn a year. But their efforts were undermined by a study by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies casting doubt on the £8bn of savings outlined in the Tory manifesto. Mr Hague also faced a rebellion over Europe as five MPs from the last Parliament signed an advert in The Independent today calling for a referendum on whether Britain should remain in the European Union.
A poll of polls for last night's Channel 4 News showed Labour on 48 per cent (up two on last week); the Tories on 32 per cent (down two) and the Liberal Democrats on 15 per cent (up one). An ICM poll in The Guardian today gives Labour a 15-point lead and suggests it is ahead of the Tories on tax and public spending.
Promising "more change, not less" if he wins a second term, Mr Blair will admit today that his Government has "only just begun" the task of transforming Britain. "Now we ask for a chance to get the job done," he will say. He will argue that economic stability has been the key achievement of his first term, and that a radical overhaul of public services would be the key aim of his second term. He will make clear that the civil service will be included in the reform plan.
Mr Blair will say: "The British people achieved magnificent things in the 20th century but never fully realised our potential. It is as if a glass ceiling has stopped us fulfilling our potential. In the 21st century we have the opportunity to break through that glass ceiling because our historic strengths match the demands of the world." The key to achieving this, he will say, is to ensure that power, wealth and opportunity is concentrated in the hands of "the many, not the few".
The Prime Minister will say the choice facing the electorate is more stark and more important than in 1997 because the Tories have shifted to the right since. He will say: "My passion is to continue the modernisation of Britain in favour of hard-working families so that all our children, wherever they live, whatever their background, have an equal chance to benefit and share its wealth."