Question: Is it your view that after the rejection of the constitution the EU has stalled?

Alison Seabeck: It is on hold. There is a lot of re-thinking and discussions going on - France in particular, is very exercised about the situation.

There is no clear route through it at the moment and they are looking at a more flexible solution

Question: Our relationship with some of our EU partners was adversely effected by our participation in the invasion of Iraq. Is there a sense that people are moving on and relationships are improving?

Alison Seabeck: Things are definitely moving on. There is a real sense that Europe feels it has a role in terms of global issues and you cannot be bickering amongst yourselves about a single issue, you have got to work collectively.

They are beginning to get to grips with the big issues whether that is climate change or the trade relationship with India and China there is a greater sense of cohesion even amongst the new accession states.

There is a different dynamic created with the old and new states but there is a European power base which is broadly respected in other parts of the world.

Question: John Reid has announced limits on immigration from the two newest accession countries - does that make relationships between the UK and Bulgaria and Romania more difficult?

Alison Seabeck: These sort of issues have been on the boil for some time and Geoff Hoon will have been talking to counterparts in those countries to try and smooth the way for the UK's position.

Question: The recent Guardian/ICM poll putting Labour at their lowest level for 20 years must have made grim reading - should Tony Blair step down sooner rather than later?

Alison Seabeck: The polls have been all over the place. There have been some very positive polls prior to that one. I have been out knocking on doors fairly regularly and I have found that people are very accepting of the fact that Tony has said he is going to go and the pressure is now off in a way it wasn't in, say, July.

Question: How does Labour renew itself before the next election?

Alison Seabeck: I think we need to be seen to be delivering, particularly on the NHS which is a key issue. Huge amounts of investment have gone in and for those people who use the NHS the satisfaction rating is extraordinarily high but for people who don't it is much lower.

It is a question of helping people to understand exactly how taxpayers money has been spent. It is actually about outcomes not renewal actually. It is about allowing the public to see and understand the progress that has been made since 1997 because it is actually significant but people's expectations have also been raised.