Blair to pledge top priority for revival of manufacturing industry

Tony Blair will today pledge to put the revival of manufacturing industry at the top of Labour's industrial strategy. With Michael Heseltine, the Deputy Prime Minister, due to publish a White Paper on competitiveness, Mr Blair will tell a conference at Cranfield School in Bedfordshire, that industrial success means Britain being "strong in Europe".

The Labour leader will say that companies are investing in Britain because it is in Europe, not because the Government has opted out of the Social Charter, which Labour would join. The association of Labour with traditional smoke-stack industries is totally outmoded, but Labour's commitment to manufacturing does not mean "picking winners".