Ignore polls, Hattersley tells Blair

London - Mr Tony Blair should disregard the views of opinion pollsters and define Labour as a party of conscience, the party'…

London - Mr Tony Blair should disregard the views of opinion pollsters and define Labour as a party of conscience, the party's former deputy leader, Lord Hattersley, said yesterday. He urged the British Prime Minister to use Chancellor Gordon Brown's announcement of £43 billion of extra investment for the public services as a platform from which to steer his government in a new direction.

Lord Hattersley argued that the need for the Labour leadership to refocus on basic socialist principles, and to worry less about cultivating a populist image, had been underlined by the recent leaked Downing Street memos.