Tony Blair's last Labour Party Conference

ENGLAND: London: GIR:INTAndy Burnham MP (Health Minister) 2-WAY interview from Manchester SOT- I was working on my policy proposal separately, so it is a coincidence [that he and Gordon Brown MP (Chancellor of the Exchequer) announced their complimentary ideas for the NHS on the same day], it demonstrates that there is a real coherence of thinking across Labour and that we have very similar views about how the country should go forward and particularly, how our National Health Service should be protected for the future, but also how it has to change- I know the media like to put us all in a very neat little pigeonhole, and leave us there, but yes we do have discussions, there is a perception that there are huge ideological divides, in fact, quite the opposite, we're all coming from a similar background, we have similar views about how the country should develop and, of couse , we do talk about our views and our shared thinking, I think it demonstrates there aren't the great schisms that some people would like to make out- I've been round the country work-shadowing NHS staff and two clear messages ring out to me, firstly, there is a huge belief in the values that underpin the NHS, but also there is a sense of frustration sometimes at the way the system works, the top down nature of the system, so I think this is the right way to go, let's stand back a bit and give staff more space, more power to innovate, so that, in these changing times, we can give people more security and certainty, let's enshrine those values that underpin the NHS, the values that the Labour movement believes in so strongly, let's put those in a constitution, so therefore people can move forward and think creatively and innovatively about the future, but they don't feel that everything is up for grabs and things are moving in a direction that they're not entirely comfortable with- I understand that criticism, but I would say back to people who say that, the political debate around ...