Following a disastrous round of election results, the prime minister has pledged to step up the pace of public sector reform.

At his monthly press conference, Tony Blair sought to renew the government's focus on bread and butter issues such as schools and hospitals.

But Blair was forced to defend his leadership following a poor poll showing in last week's elections.

Defending his decision to go to war with Iraq, Blair said he believed time would prove he had made the right decision.

"In positions of leadership you have to take what you believe to be the right decision for the country and that is not always the same as the popular position," said the prime minister.

"I believe every bit as passionately now that rogue states, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction are indeed the security threats of the 21st century and we have to confront them."

Public services

Blair went on to insist that he had remained focused on public services despite the dominance of international issues over recent months.

"What people want to know is that the programme upon which we were elected in 1997, the values which underpin that programme... remains the same," he said.

"Those things are about a strong economy, where we banish mass unemployment and introduce full employment, where we have public services that are free at the point of use for people, where we tackle the issues of crime and law and order on our streets.

"They want to know that those are the issues which motivate me, which get me up in the morning and make me want to do the job, and they are.

"Now I have got to go out and persuade people of that and convince them of it. In the last year or 15 months foreign policy issues have not actually dominated my workload but have dominated the agenda."

Addressing journalists inside Number 10, Blair said real progress within public services was "changing the lives of millions of people around the country".

Reform

And he pledged to go "faster and further" in reforming public services over coming months.

He said Labour would "put the patient first, put the law abiding citizen first, put the parent and the pupil first".

And to those in his own party who have reservations about wholesale reform of public services, he said there were "big arguments" to be had about future changes.

"We want to take all of this further. Now is not the time for a change of direction. But it is a time for a change of gear," he said.

On schools Blair hinted at radical initiatives to be announced soon.

He pledged to break up "monolithic" services and "free up" the education sector from Whitehall control.

This will mean "allowing successful schools to expand" the prime minister promised.

And he denied that the next wave of reforms will be accompanied by more burdensome targets.

"It is not a question of targets, it is a question of making sure that those achievements carry on," he insisted.