Prime Minister Tony Blair committed his new Labor government on Wednesday to a major program of constitutional reform aimed at making a decisive break with 18 years of Conservative rule in Britain.
Officials said the far-reaching legislative package reflected the priorities of a "people's government" and would begin the process of fulfilling the core election commitments that swept Labor to power on May 1."The new government will govern for the whole nation and give everyone - regardless of background - the chance to succeed in life," Blair's office said.
The program, formally announced by head-of-state Queen Elizabeth II in a glittering ages-old ceremony in the upper House of Lords, sets out 26 bills that the government hopes to enact over the next 18 months.
The package of bills tackled Labor's five main manifesto pledges - to cut primary school class sizes, shorten hospital waiting lists, mete out swifter justice for persistent juvenile offenders, get 250,000 young people off welfare into work and to create the conditions for lasting prosperity.
But there were also a number of eye-catching constitutional reforms to decentralize power, make government more transparent and clean up politics after a string of tawdry sex and money scandals that Labor says sullied the previous administration.