The prime minister has defended his plans to overhaul the public services by introducing greater consumer choice.

Tony Blair told the Commons liaison committee that providing "choice" between and within schools would be the main driver of change and means of driving up standards.

Following the five-year plan for the NHS he insisted that "choice is different in education than it is in health".

But he argued that providing a selection of schools would benefit all pupils and parents.

"It is very important that when parents come to decide... that there are a range of good schools for them to choose from," Blair said.

"I think that this is not limited to people of a certain income. I think that many working class parents feel exactly the same. They want their children to do better," he added.

The introduction of greater choice - a policy of both Labour and the Conservatives - is backed by most voters according to a Populus poll in the Times.

It finds that 58 per cent of voters would expect such reforms to raise the quality of public services, while 29 per cent think it would make no difference and just eight per cent think it would make things worse.

The survey also finds that 71 per cent want public services to remain provided by the government, while a lower 27 per cent think that the services could be provided by a private company funded by the government.