CYP Now - Opinion: Blair banks on childcare as election winner

The Prime Minister's speech to this year's Labour Party Conference was, in many ways, a bog-standard one. There weren't many long sentences, for a start. And, as usual, there were lots of recycled promises, some hastily gathered new ideas, plenty of sops to the party faithful and a few jokes, all carefully wrapped in a blend of humility and defiance.

Yet, for some at least, the 5,780 words uttered by Tony Blair were important enough to be subjected to heavy scrutiny, with every meaning hidden within the lines of the text worthy of careful examination and endless debate.

Of course, it's only journalists and politicos who take political speeches quite so seriously. For most people, party conferences come and go in a haze of headlines.

So, in case you missed it, here are the things you need to know.

Although the majority of the press coverage focused on what Blair said on Iraq, most of the speech was actually about domestic policy. The theme was of an "opportunity society" in which everyone has an equal chance to succeed.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included