Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday unveiled a £1 billion drive to get all Government services online by 2005.

Mr Blair also said £15 million would be allocated to help businesses benefit from the internet and announced the first raft of 600 online centres to give high-tech access to poorer communities.

Mr Blair, speaking in Leicestershire, declared the UK Online initiatives were designed to get business, people and the Government hooked up to the internet.

He said: "My argument is simple. There is no new economy. There is one economy - all of it being transformed by IT.

"What is happening is no dot com fad that will come and go - it is a profound economic revolution."

The Prime Minister said Britain now had the best off-peak rates for connection to the internet in the world.

"No other country has cheaper access off-peak - not America, not Sweden, not Germany, not anywhere.

"But there is no cause for complacency, so today I am announcing a new campaign. Its goal is to get the UK online."