Today, for the final time as Prime Minister, Tony Blair will be summoned to the House of Lords to hear the Queen outline his government’s legislative programme.

Beneath the constitutional niceties there is a harsh political reality.  Over the next few months the Blair era will come to an end. For the Labour Party his departure provides a challenge but also an opportunity. Can we renew ourselves in government under a new Leader and in so doing re-establish that coalition of support which delivered landslide victories in 1997 and 2001?

The challenges facing our country now are quite different than those we had to deal with when we first took office. A new agenda is emerging as a result of globalisation and the threat to national security but which also reflects the changed priorities and ambitions of the British people.

Labour should use the time before Tony Blair’s departure to debate and then set out clearly how we intend to respond and to do so in a way which remains true to our values and principles as a party.

It is essential to do this not because there is a fundamental ideological disagreement. There is, I believe, broad acceptance on the left that social justice and economic prosperity go hand in hand and that with rights come responsibilities. However, we have to recognise that within New Labour there are different views about priorities and the means necessary to achieve our objectives.

So while the political direction of travel is broadly agreed, decisions about the pace at which we move forward, the mode of transport to be used and the ultimate destination remain to be resolved.

There are a range of important policy areas that for one reason or another haven’t received enough attention over recent years but which now urgently require resolution and agreement about the way forward.

Let’s take just three examples: Europe; the world of work, and taxation.  On Europe our approach has been timid to say the least. There has  been a conspiracy of silence with too many leading politicians across the political divide colluding in the illusion that the European Union is of no significance.  Yet a new Europe is emerging.  One which is not grounded in political union or harmonisation but which comes from recognition that if we are to meet the major challenges we face like climate change and mass migration then we are more likely to do so as part of the European Union than a nation on our own.  Over the coming months we need to decide whether we want to be leaders and shape the future or do we relegate ourselves to the sidelines.

The world of work is changing. There is now a fairer and more balanced relationship between employer and employee but more needs to be done.  The demands for union legal immunities and the return of secondary industrial action must not be used as an excuse to avoid this area.

There are important issues that still need to be addressed. How do we make equal pay for women a reality and not just an aspiration? Should we encourage the Low Pay Commission to increase the minimum wage as part of a strategy to tackle poverty? Answers are needed to these and other questions with aim of making work more secure and rewarding.

Taxation is a sensitive and contentious area but that is not a reason to deny debate. For too long in the Labour Party policy on taxation has been treated like a secret garden with admission by invitation only. This has to change.  The Tories and Liberal Democrats are beginning to open up a debate about the options available.  We should do likewise and explore the extent to which we can use the tax system not just to raise money to fund public services but also to achieve our wider social and environmental objectives e.g. by further rewarding work and penalising the polluter.

These are just three areas, there will be others and taken together they could demonstrate that the Labour Party is in tune with the way in which people live their lives.

For the past decade Tony Blair has been the dominant force in British politics.  Now Labour has to contemplate life without him. Already some are calling for a change of direction. They will need to be resisted. Instead we need to show that in a post Blair era New Labour will continue with a programme which is forward looking and relevant to the needs of our country.