Defiant Blair is jeered

Hecklers disrupted Tony Blair's keynote speech to the Labour party conference this afternoon.

Amid unprecedented scenes, security staff battled with smartly dressed protesters who appeared to be official delegates as the Prime Minister's call for party unity was twice interrupted.

Within minutes of the speech beginning Old Etonian Hector Christie, 43, began shouting at the stage about the Iraq war: "You have got blood on your hands."

He was dragged away after a violent scuffle and handcuffed by police. A second protest came about 10 minutes into the speech when at least five men and women rose from their seats and began shouting.

Clearly shaken, Mr Blair stopped speaking and there was a delay before stewards intervened and manhandled the protesters, including one woman, out of the hall. Mr Blair then joked: "If there are any more of you could you please stand up now."

It is the first time in living memory that protesters have halted a keynote speech by a prime minister to a party conference.

Carrying on with his speech in Brighton Mr Blair appealed to Labour to put aside the Iraq war and "dare to dream" of a historic third election victory.

In his last rallying cry before next spring's expected polling day, he urged the party to unite, saying: "That is worth fighting for. Let's do it."

Mr Blair's appeal came only hours after the murders of two British soldiers in Basra and during the anxious wait for news of hostage Kenneth Bigley. Apologising for the strain and divisions the war had inflicted on his party, his Government and the nation, the Prime Minister finally said sorry though not for toppling Saddam Hussein. "I know this issue has divided the country," he said. "I am genuinely sorry about that. I entirely understand why many disagree."

But he bluntly told them it was time to move on from the arguments over the decision to invade Iraq - or risk putting all Labour's achievements at risk. " Victory in Iraq means security here," he added, claiming failure would risk undermining "key domestic policies" including new pledges for childcare and help for first-time homebuyers.

Reminding delegates of the "futility and impotence of opposition", he urged them to embrace a radical agenda for reforms. Making clear he would not back off from controversial new ideas, he said New Labour's willingness to change had won victory in 1997 and was vital for it to win again. "We dared to change and dared to dream we could win again. We changed - and we won," he said.

Inevitably the war and the hostage crisis hung over his speech. Mr Blair confronted critics head-on with an appeal as both a leader and as a family man.

But while apologising for the divisions and strain, he refused to express any regret for going to war to remove former dictator Saddam Hussein.

"The world is a better place with him in prison rather than in power," he told Labour delegates.

The intelligence about biological and chemical weapons was plain wrong, he admitted. And the desperate plight of Mr Bigley and his family had been one of the hardest times of his leadership.

He said the experience of the war had changed him for good.

"When I hear people say 'I want the old Tony Blair back', I say that as a human being, as a father or as a family man, I do not think I have changed at all. But I have changed as a leader because I know that being a leader is about doing what you think is right and sticking to it."

He urged Labour delegates to unite in order to keep the trust of voters. "Together we can build a stronger and more prosperous nation," he said. "We have to go out and win the trust of the people to do it."

Listing the party's achievements over the past seven years, he urged them on, saying: "We will deliver much more if we win that third term. Our ambition is to make the changes in the country and in the world lasting and irreversible."

Mr Blair listed 10 policy areas as Labour's priorities - from expanded adult education to childcare places for children from age three to six. The party's "third term mission", he said, would be to create "not a society where all succeed equally, but an opportunity society where all have an equal chance to succeed".

Mr Blair made clear that by " hardworking families" he meant low-paid couples such as hospital porters and dinner ladies rather than the middle classes who backed Labour in 1997.

He used the phrase repeatedly, reflecting a fear among party pollsters that young families and those priced out of the housing market were disenchanted and drifting away.

"If you are a young married couple trying to buy a house, if you are trying to balance home and family life, if you are worried about saving for retirement, if you are scared to walk out at night, if you see people who you do not think deserve it getting benefits from the taxpayer, life is hard," he said.

Outlining his vision of the long-awaited third term, he said it would be a future "where hard-working families do not feel their efforts are blighted by those who do not work hard."

He said he was an " optimist " and declared: "This is not a country in decline. We are winning. The British people are winning." But while Mr Blair said the country felt "reasonably-confident" on the Government's bread-and-butter policies, he admitted there was a seam of pessimism over Iraq. Trying to put past divisions aside he urged: "We should now unite in our determination to stand by the Iraqis until the job is done."

Building up to a finale, Mr Blair warned delegates of the "futility and impotence of opposition", but reminded them that: "We learned that real change requires us to be radical and build on our ambitions.

"On the values of today and the ideas of tomorrow, and a policy programme that will change the country for better - and for good. Our mission and our purpose is power, wealth and opportunity in the hands of the many not the few.

"We want to win a third term to build on the progress we have made, to give everyone the chance to better themselves."