It was also widely connected in the media with the Prime Minister's statement in the House of Commons that a decision would be made on whether to join the single European currency within the first two years of a new parliament. Tony Blair's task was not an easy one. The people have become increasingly disillusioned with the promises of New Labour and of the direction it is taking society. The workers who were supposed to have had their own mass party elected on May Day 1997 have seen that the programme followed by New Labour represents not their interests but those of the rich.
Life is a real struggle for many people, uncertain, insecure and under constant pressure.
And that goes for middle class as well as lower income families. Tony Blair cannot even bring himself to talk about the working class. It is the Conservative Party which has allegedly vacated the centre ground. It is important for the working class to understand that this is not simply a Blairite gloss, an aberration from the true vocation of the Labour Party to represent the interests of the workers. New Labour came to power with the mission to carry forward Thatcherism in the conditions where the Thatcherite programme was in crisis, and this is precisely what it has done.