Beyond Starmer? ‘Sir’ Tony Blair & the future of a Labour ‘broad church’
Labour is often claimed to be an electoral broad church combining socialists and social democrats. In recent times perhaps particularly with what some see as Keir Starmer’s Great Moving Right Show, the question is raised as to which church Labour is holding services in.
In one of his ‘rare’ public interventions, an interview in The Murdoch Times (12th Feb) ‘Sir’ Tony Blair has offered some thoughts.
He considers Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership a ‘terrible period’ while Starmer is regarded as a ‘work in progress’. What then might be the direction of travel?
Blair argues ‘The Labour Party has to think of this an historic moment, where if it really wants to win sustainedly, it has to think of itself as a different type of party. Otherwise it will always be there just to give the Tories a breather’.
This is an implicit criticism of Starmer who appears to want to project Labour as close to the Tories in many areas but rather more responsible and prudent. Rather it is an echo of Harold Wilson’s never achieved aim of making Labour the natural party of Government.
Blair had a chance to do that in 1997 and indeed it was widely mooted that a realignment with the LibDems would occur to leave the Tories in a permanent minority. It didn’t happen. Blair however is on record as thinking the split from 1900 between Labour and the Liberals was an error and that a progressive alliance of both was and is the way forward.
It might be a broad church but not one many Labour members and supporters currently worship in
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