WHETHER or not they agree with one word of Clare Short's stinging attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair, or everything she said, wise Labour heads will not dismiss her message, or its potential consequences, without great thought.

It matters a lot that she believes his first term in power was full of spin and a "control freak style", and that the second has seen "the centralisation of power" into his hands and those of "an increasingly small number of advisers".

It matters that she fears Labour is "entering rockier times" and must not depart from its "best values". But public perception is what he must worry about most.

It won't be music to the ears of some, but significant numbers of people despair that lives like theirs are being blighted by what they regard as a rising tide of yobbish behaviour.

We hear from them every day. Their concerns are real. Like them, we're not convinced that society is doing enough to address the problem.

Then there's education. Worcestershire County Council has answered Charles Clarke's accusation that Government cash has not ended up where it was intended to go.

He might well have been right to voice his concerns. But his tone was heavier than the nanny-knows-best attitude which often prevails with New Labour, and only served to provide the cynics and the sceptics with fuel for the fire.

Likewise, Health Secretary Alan Milburn's promotion of the idea of foundation hospitals.

He might be able to build a watertight case in his own mind about the principle of them, and firmly believe that the NHS will not become a two-tier service. But too many people simply aren't buying it.

When Mr Blair became PM in 1997, he promised to make sure he produced a country that was at ease with itself.

In that, he's been singularly unsuccessful so far - and every time withering criticisms like Clare Short's throw the spotlight on him and his inner circle, the harder it will be to keep that pledge.