TONY BLAIR yesterday glossed over New Labour's first-year failures in favour of highlighting its achievements, as he promised to lead a ''quiet revolution'' that would mark out his administration as one of the ''great radical reforming governments of our time''.

He summoned his Ministers and top civil servants to the No 10 garden for an American-style ''State of the Union'' address in which he delivered his report card on his first parliamentary term.

Presenting the Government's first annual report, an 114-page book packed with glossy pictures of ordinary people and details of how much progress has been made on Labour's 177 manifesto pledges, Mr Blair called on his troops to concentrate on their long-term goals.

In 15 months in office, 50 pledges have been delivered, a further 119 are being worked on, and just eight have yet to be timetabled.

The report, published on the eve of the long summer recess, was greeted with derision as a work of ''fiction'' by the Opposition parties who claimed it failed to account for what the Government has got wrong.

It was overshadowed by continuing uncertainties over Mr Blair's commitment to welfare reform following the clear-out of the Department of Social Security and the attack on Chancellor Gordon Brown by sacked Minister Frank Field.

Mr Blair showed signs of the weariness that has settled on all Ministers after a gruelling first year in office. He sets off tomorrow with his family for a holiday in a Tuscan palazzo, to recharge his batteries in preparation for what he warned Cabinet will be another packed parliamentary year.

With staff and Ministers listening on in an atmosphere reminiscent of a presidential address in the rose garden of the White House, Mr Blair announced: ''This is a radical reforming Government. Sometimes the revolution is a quiet revolution, but a revolution nevertheless it is.''

He praised his colleagues for their hard work, but emphasised that more work needs to be done before New Labour can claim to have delivered on its manifesto commitments.

Clearly conscious that in areas such as reducing NHS waiting lists and school class sizes the Government has struggled to make progress, Mr Blair emphasised his commitment to long-term reform of British politics and a ''new form of politics''.

''What other government this century would have cut corporation tax to help business yet introduced a minimum wage to help the poorest paid?...What other government would work so hard to offer jobs, and new skills to young people as well as cracking down on youth crime?'' he asked.

And he vowed: ''Every word of the manifesto I meant. Every pledge we made we will deliver. Every line of the contract we will fulfil. Line by line, pledge by pledge, step by step we make Britain better.''

Despite the slick presentation of the report, which cost #95,000 to produce, Mr Blair pours scorn on the suggestion that the Government values presentational style over substance. ''In a year of welfare reform, an agreement in Northern Ireland, two substantial Budgets, a comprehensive spending review of spending and constitutional reform that charge is unsustainable,'' he writes in its introduction.

The report, however, does not dwell on the troubles the Government has experienced over its links with lobbyists, the row over the #1m tobacco sponsorship affair, or doubts over Treasury Minister Geoffrey Robinson's financial affairs. Nor does it dwell on the increasing risks of an economic downturn.

Michael Ancram, the Tories' deputy chairman, branded the exercise an ''annual misreport'' and a ''work of fiction'' because Labour had failed to deliver on key pledges.

''This is further evidence of this Government's preference for presentation over substance. It is a propaganda exercise. It is a work of fiction but not one worth taking on holiday.''

For the Liberal Democrats campaigns director Nick Harvey challenged the Government to let the National Audit Office assess its record. ''This report was originally due to be published two months ago. The delay highlights the Government's embarrassment over its failure to deliver on its early pledges.''

Meanwhile, Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar said Home Rule and extra funding for the Government's key pledges have been his most satisfying achievements for Scotland in the past year.

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