Tony Blair has urged the Labour Party not to be knocked off course by the storms raging around the Government.
The Prime Minister told activists he did not underestimate the scale of the difficulties besetting the Party.
But he insisted the next General Election would be decided by policies rather than current controversies and appealed to them to keep faith with the New Labour agenda.
He said: "In politics at the top you get used to the periodic storms and I don't, incidentally, underestimate the volume of this one."
Mr Blair acknowledged that it could be "hard" to remain focused as the storms raged.
He added: "But however buffeted, it should not change our course or our confidence."
Appearing relaxed in an open-neck shirt in front of Labour's National Policy Forum, Mr Blair indicated that he had plenty to do before he stood down, but gave no indication about when that might be.
He said that he was confident about what the Labour Party had achieved over the last 10 years and what it could still achieve in the next 10.
He went on: "The fourth election will not be decided by current events, but it will be about whether we have the dynamism, the energy, the vision and above all clear well thought out policies for the future of our country.
"It will be about who understands the modern world best and who can change it for the better. It will be about changes that endure not controversies that pass."
