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Analysis
By Nick Assinder
Political Correspondent, BBC News website
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He may have been sweating freely as he delivered his latest big speech, but Tony Blair's overriding political objective was to demonstrate he is not feeling the heat over his own position.
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Blair had a defiant message on his future
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The underlying message was, once again, that the rows over cash-for-peerages, the continuing rift between him and Gordon Brown, and even problems with the health service itself are not about to blow him off course.
Nor is he going to allow them to force him into an earlier-than-planned retirement.
He told his audience that, as far as the NHS was concerned, now was not the time to back away but to "hold our nerve".
They were remarks also clearly intended to signal his own political intentions and which were aimed well beyond the doctors and nurses sitting in front of him.
This was another example of the prime minister's belief that much of what is currently being speculated over his future is the froth of politics which, if he keeps his nerve, will pass.
He has just returned from an Easter break during which that speculation over his continuing premiership, fallout from the cash-for-peerages investigations and fears over the looming local elections hung over politics.
Departure date
The financial problems hitting some parts of the NHS have sparked accusations of financial mismanagement and the prime minister was clearly eager to address those concerns head on.
Government faces attacks over health service
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And his speech - while lacking anything new in policy terms - was primarily aimed at doing just that.
But there was also that wider, political sub text which had far more to do with his own position and intentions.
His remarks, while avoiding any direct reference to his future, echoed the messages which have been coming from the prime minister's allies of late.
And that is, that he has no intention of leaving Downing Street until his reforms are completed.
That has led to renewed speculation he is looking to some time in 2008 as a possible departure date - far longer than many in his party want to see and quite possibly not to Gordon Brown's liking either.
But whether that will be possible must remain open to doubt. No matter how often the prime minister attempts to move on, questions over his leadership just keep on surfacing.
The latest surround the police investigation into the cash-for-peerages affair with suggestions, flatly denied by Downing Street, that officers wish to interview the prime minister.
And, if his political enemies get their way, there will still be plenty ahead to make him sweat.
Nick.Assinder-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
One-Minute World News
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