Gordon Brown's Speech to Labour Conference

Here's the text of Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour conference today. Judge for yourself what it reads like:

Building new Labour and winning three elections, he recognised what we must never forget that we must always be in tune with the aspirations, at all times on the side of the British people.

At all times? Well, except for the spring of 2003 and Iraq, except on Lebanon, on being too close to George Bush's foreign policy, except on city academies, tuition fees and on the increasing privatisation of the NHS.

And let me say that the renewal of New Labour must and will be built upon these essential truths: a flexible economy, reformed and personalised public services, public and private sectors not at odds but working together so that we can truly deliver opportunity and security not just for some but for all.

PFI's continuing, as long as Gordon has any say.

that we - Britain - have new international responsibilities to discharge.

Overseas military adventures will continue.

And we must support Tony Blair and Margaret Beckett - and their proposals for a political and economic plan to underpin a lasting Middle East peace.

Blair and Beckett's policies are part of the problem, not the solution, in the Middle East.

With 2.4m new jobs - instead of the highest unemployment in Europe - we are closer to full employment than ever before.

Honestly, what kind of jobs are they? Rover workers are finding out that the available jobs just don't pay a living wage.

And let me say: as we support the police, the armed forces and security services with the resources they need, we will not hesitate as on Identity Cards and if the evidence shows it necessary, moving beyond 28 days detention to ask for the necessary powers.

Yet another signal that, on the war on terror, on civil liberties, not much will change.

The disappointing thing about the speech was that it was couched in "let's work together" rhetoric, with exactly 5.2 mentions of "I've talked with ordinary people" case studies, 4.6 citings of other cabinet ministers. In branding himself anti-spin, he's used the dark arts of spin.