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The more interesting thing is what is missing from them. How we respond to globalisation, not by resorting to economic protectionism but through open markets, free trade and a new accent on skills and employability. How we build genuinely inclusive societies when there are huge pressures going in the opposite direction, notably a widening gap between rich and poor. How we deal with the causes and consequences of global terrorism and get the trade-offs right between protecting wider society and defending civil liberties. How we avoid racial conflict in an era of global migration. How we deal with the challenge of demographic and environmental change. And, in particular, how we fulfil the desire people have for greater control in their lives whether through more choice over how services are delivered or through a better balance between work and family life. These were not the main challenges then. But they are now.

As the pace of change in the world has quickened, so the pace of change in politics needs to quicken too. Those who fail to keep up get left behind. For governments, in particular, the focus tends to be on the here and now. But in the end politics is about the future. Governments that do not talk about the future — still less have ownership of it — pretty rapidly find they do not have one.

Values in politics are immutable. But policies need to change with the times. So as the debate over future direction gathers pace there should be no no-go areas. Narrowing inequality. Devolving power. Extending ownership. Beating crime. Immigration control. Environmental protection. Benefits restructuring. Individual budgets. And yes, tax reform. They must all be on the new new Labour agenda.

The danger otherwise is that the Conservatives’ policy review comes up with the modern solutions that Britain needs. That would leave Labour with a rear-view mirror approach to winning the next election — relying only on what has been done in the past when in a world of ever faster change it is what the parties have to say about the future that counts.

There is another, even bigger danger. We can all agree on the need for renewal. The question is which direction renewal takes us. For some, renewal is code for retreat. It is about higher taxes, not lower. More state control, not less. Less reform, not more. A return to the past, not a focus on the future.

New Labour faces a fundamental moment of choice. To move forward or go back. With David Cameron starting to signal a move to the centre ground, it seems to me to be a no-brainer. Advancing, not retreating, is the surest way not just to exacerbate the tensions between Cameron and his party but also to rebuild the coalition of support that produced Labour victories in 1997, 2001 and 2005. Cameron can be beaten, but not by vacating the territory that new Labour has fought so hard to win. We need more new Labour policy, not less.

Forget The Date. It’s The Debate that matters.

Simon Jenkins is away