Stephen Byers has urged the prime minister to steer left as he maps out his future political direction.

Writing in Friday's New Statesman magazine, the Blairite former transport secretary said the government should not "maintain a steady-as-you-go approach" but become more radical in its aims.

"Increasingly, the electorate sees Labour as being on the right," he argued. "The task now must be to move it leftwards."

Byers, a key Blair ally until his resignation last year, has sought to cast himself as a long term political thinker in the past few months.

His latest thoughts echoed previous warnings that there is a "sense of drift and a feeling that the government has lost its way" about the New Labour project.

But he went on to expand on this diagnosis and prescribe a pro-active as opposed to reactive agenda.

"We can no longer define ourselves by what we are against - that is the politics of opposition," the Newcastle MP claimed.

"Instead, we should articulate a clear vision of what we believe a Labour government should be for."

"This task has been made easier by the Tory party's decision to bring forward some detailed policies that highlight clear dividing lines between the parties," he continued.

On health and education this would mean staking out clear political ground between the Conservatives' subsidies for the private sector and Labour's traditional commitment to universal provision, Byers said.

"This is the moment for Labour to make the positive case for universal , high-quality services funded from general taxation and available on the basis of need and not ability to pay," he claimed.