Labour's third term would focus on dismantling the "state monopoly" in public services and give people greater control over their lives, Alan Milburn promised yesterday.

The party's election co-ordinator said that the government needed this fresh mandate if it was to create an "irreversible" legacy for Britain’s public services in the same way that Margaret Thatcher "embedded the free market" during the 1980s.

He told an audience in Manchester: "The true test of politics is whether you make the changes that endure. As we move towards the next election, the nation will need to decide: does Britain keep moving fowards or does it go back?"