Brown promises to reform Labour for 21st century

LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) Prime minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown promised today to outline proposals in coming weeks on reforming the Labour Party, saying it needed to involve and engage the public much more in future decision-making.

''The reforms and modernisation we must bring about so we have a 21st Century party to meet the challenges of the future are about involvement and engagement, not returning to old ways but looking forward to new ways of making decisions in the interests of the country,'' Brown told young Labour supporters.

Brown, due to succeed Tony Blair on June 27, said Labour had a duty ''to consult, involve and engage the members of the party as we make our policies.'' He was speaking in Oxford at a hustings event where Labour's deputy leadership contenders also debated the party's future.

Brown faces an uphill task to restore the public's faith in Labour before the next general election, expected in 2009.

The party's popularity has slumped after a decade in office and following Blair's divisive decision to support the U.S.-led Iraq war while a resurgent Conservative Party has gained ground in opinion polls.

Blair has also come under attack for what critics call his sofa-style of government -- of making policy with a small cabal of advisers rather than in consultation with the full cabinet or the wider public.

Brown must present himself as a break from the past, despite being one of the most important figures in Blair's government since 1997.

Brown said Labour organisations in local areas had to have a stronger connection with the local community as well as civic and voluntary movements and the public had to be consulted on policies on housing, the environment or education.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Labour underwent major reforms to bring it up to date, Brown said. A fresh overhaul was now needed to face the challenges of the 21st Century, he added.

Brown also highlighted the international goals of his premiership: tackling global warming and bringing the basic right of education to every child in the world.

REUTERS SLD RN1817