PRIME Minister Tony Blair promised us that he and his colleagues would hit the ground running if they were to form a government.

They have certainly done that.

The winds of change which swept through the first Labour Cabinet meeting had hit gale force by the end of the session.

And, encouragingly, Mr Blair insisted that they would govern as New Labour.

So far there has been no sign of the extreme Left - which did so much to drag down previous Labour administrations - crawling out of the woodwork.

These are early days and Mr Blair knows he has to keep up his guard, for it would be tragic if the dinosaurs of the Left were allowed to undo such a promising start by a young and forward-looking government.

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