Labour Conference: Surfing Blair clicks on to web message

TONY BLAIR, a late convert to the mysteries of the internet, yesterday demonstrated his new surfing skills to his wife, Cherie, writes Marie Woolf.

The Prime Minister looked over several pages of Labour's new state- of-the art website hours after it went live to demonstrate Labour's commitment to information technology.

The website is the centre of an IT strategy which includes leasing top of the range IBM computers to Labour's local parties, and MPs and MSPs for pounds 1 a day. The computers will allow Labour's Millbank headquarters to quickly send policy messages to its activists.

The Prime Minister's keynote speech to the Bournemouth conference on Tuesday will, for the first time, be carried live on the party's website.

However, some at Millbank fear that ingenious computer hackers - some have successfully broken into William Hague's website - will also be trying to get into Labour's site.

But a Labour spokesman was not too worried; they have built in security precautions.