But the left have undervalued the notion of responsibility and duty and it is time we understood how central it is.' On the economy, on education, on crime, the sentiments came in political Middle English, from a man assuming the leadership of the common-sensible majority.On the likely battlegrounds, there was no hint of tactical retreat. This was an unequivocally Europeanist speech - 'I will never allow this country to be isolated or left behind in Europe' - and on issues such as progressive taxation, the minimum wage, the Social Chapter, Blair was gin-clear and unapologetic. No one has any excuse to argue that there is little to choose between the main parties, or to misunderstand where the fight will be.There were, naturally, plenty of jibes. There was a sarcastic passage on what Blair regards as the Tories' excessive regard for Adam Smith's invisible hand of market forces: 'Let's just sit tight on this planet of miracles, where the free market builds business, trains employees, controls inflation, preserves demand, ensures everlasting growth. Welcome to Planet Portillo.'But the most refreshing passages came when the Labour leader dropped the knockabout and spoke more openly and frankly than is the custom on such occasions.

He promised a political style which 'means telling it like it is, not opposing everything every other party does for the sake of it'. That will be music to Paddy Ashdown's ears, but it may also attract the notice of voters who are weary of political point-scoring.He even practised what he preached. When before has a Labour leader on a conference platform praised a Tory Government, as Blair did over Northern Ireland, and won applause for it? When before has a Labour leader said: 'No one believes strike ballots should be abandoned. So why do they say it? We shouldn't, and I won't' - and been applauded for it?For most of the country, this is unexceptional, merely sensible, stuff.

But in the context of the expectations of a Labour conference, it is pretty sensational. And there are signs that the message is welcomed in the party too. When Blair went on to argue that there was no choice between being principled and unelectable and 'we have tortured ourselves with this foolishness for too long', I felt an undercurrent of relief in the hall This is not the old-time music. This is the new-time music.It is, in the jargon of contemporary politics, pluralism. The pluralist style (open, frank, jargon- free) is probably the Opposition's greatest weapon in the coming confrontation with John Major's Conservativism. If the Tories are sensible, it will make them think twice, and then thrice, about the wisdom of swinging too far to the right ahead of the next election, of sounding too hysterically nationalistic. Can they really afford to leave Blair speaking calmly in the middle ground?Speaking in confessional mode to senior Labour people, one is constantly struck by the poverty of their aspiration.