Manifesto for the young: * I guarantee to young people that by 2002 they will have a sufficient range of local youth services which will provide them within a bus ride with a safe, well-equipped meeting place, offering exciting programmes and reliable information and advice on housing and jobs.

* I will effectively co-ordinate youth policies across Whitehall and drive through a coherent strategy to promote young people’s employment, health, creativity and full citizenship.

* I will close the Greenwich Millennium building site and replace it with a nationwide millennium fund offering challenge grants for local programmes in the arts and civic leadership by the young.

* I will adjust the Standard Spending Assessment for education to restore the proportion based on social needs and guarantee a minimum percentage for youth work.

* Finally, as a former inspector, I will recast the inspection system to give it a focus on improving schools, not condemning them, and restore belief in the integrity of the inspectorate’s professional judgment and its data.

* I pledge that I will judge every policy and every action by its impact on the poorest and most vulnerable.