TONY BLAIR was confronted yesterday by the partner of a cancer patient who said Labour had failed the NHS after years of trying to improve it.

The incident marred what was supposed to be the smooth launch of the party's manifesto, with Mr Blair promising radical reform of the public services if he won a second term in office.

It was followed by Home Secretary Jack Straw being heckled and jeered as he addressed the Police Federation Annual Conference in Blackpool - on a day that saw the Government put on to the back foot after hoping to grab the headlines with its detailed promises to voters.

Mr Blair met his match at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital after signalling in his manifesto launch speech in the city that there would be greater private sector involvement in schools and hospitals.

He said there were "no barriers, no dogma, no vested interests" that should be allowed to stand in the way of change.

Sharron Storer, 38, who claimed her partner was not getting proper care because of Labour, challenged the Prime Minister and said afterwards: "All he kept saying was they're going to do better, they are trying. But he has been trying for years, and in my opinion they still haven't got it right."

Mr Straw met a similarly hostile reception when police officers shouted and jeered as he addressed them.

They constantly laughed as he said their job was a popular one and that the level of staff leaving it was stable and low.

At one point he was forced to stop speaking as the delegates started to slow-hand clap.

Earlier, at the manifesto launch, Mr Blair said of his determination to modernise public services: "We must have the courage to make all the necessary reforms. There is no more radical mission."

Launching the document, he said there were ten areas that needed an overhaul - schools, the NHS, pensions, transport, criminal justice, universities, the welfare state, the civil service, help for families and skilled training.

Tory leader William Hague swiftly dismissed the Labour document as a watered-down version of the same promises they made last time.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said: "There is clearly a need for additional investment in the health service and that can only come at a price."

l Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson walked out of a BBC 2 Newsnight interview last night when asked how the Chancellor was conducting the election campaign.

The former Minister for Northern Ireland was eventually persuaded to return to the interview and discussed local issues.

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