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Labour Party conference 1996: Tony Blair speech; ENGLAND: Blackpool: Winter Gardens: INT Tony Blair MP (Labour Leader) speech SOT / cutaways of audience delegates and MPs, Gordon Brown. - "Is that not the essence of what we believe? Each generation doing better than the last, the heritage of hope passed from parents to their children - now, for the first time in this generation, at risk under this Conservative government. Our task is to restore that hope, to build a new age of achievement in a new and different world. Today we compete in the era of global markets, and I say this to our Conservative opponents. There is no future for Britain as a low-wage, low-skill, low-technology economy. (Applause) We will compete on the basis of quality or not at all. This means a stable economy, long-term investment, the enterprise of our people set free. First, let us get the fundamentals right. Look at the Tories - two recessions, one of which wiped out a third of our manufacturing base; borrowed their way into the record books; the pound devalued; North Sea oil money gone; all the money from asset sales gone. It is sometimes said, you know, that the Tories are cruel but they are efficient. In fact, they are the most feckless, irresponsible, incompetent managers of the British economy in this country’s history. (Applause) Labour will be the party of sound finance and good housekeeping. World interest rates and inflation rates are low; in Britain we will keep them this way. There will be defined targets set and kept to. Losing control of public finance is not radical, it is just reckless, and we will not do it. Gordon Brown, the Iron Chancellor (Applause) - it can be a tough job and he does it brilliantly. They say it is easier to get past security at our Conference without a pass than to get a spending commitment past Gordon! And in case anyone is in any doubt, that is how it is going to stay.