IT'S a bit rich for the Prime Minister to accuse the Conservatives of denigrating public services.

We recall, after all, a speech by him just two-and-a-half years ago, in which he said: "People in the public sector are more rooted in the concept that if it's always been done this way, it must always be done this way, than any group of people that I've ever come across."

Famously, he went on to say he bore the scars on his back after trying to push through reforms in the public sector.

Yesterday, he sounded a very different tone, saying he was a champion of the teachers, doctors, nurses and police officers he once denigrated.

It remains to be seen whether Mr Blair is a genuine convert to the cause of public sector workers, or whether he is choosing to make political capital out of ill-judged comments by the Leader of the Opposition.

We have had fine words and populist rhetoric before from Mr Blair. But patience among public sectors workers and the public as a whole is wearing thin.

A Government which came into office nearly five years ago pledging to reinvigorate public services cannot for much longer blame lack of progress on this promise on the legacy of the previous Conservative administration.

The only way Mr Blair can demonstrate genuine faith in public sector workers is by providing them with adequate resources and investment to improve the services they deliver.

Unless it is supported by action, faint praise will not reduce hospital waiting lists, reduce class sizes or reduce our fear of crime.