Blair to warn against any ‘whitewash’ of defeat

Tony Blair is to warn that Labour faces an existential crisis if the party does not revitalise itself as a “serious, progressive” alternative to the Tories as he urges against a “whitewash” of the devastating general election defeat.

The former prime minister will put Jeremy Corbyn on notice that his planned “process of reflection” before standing down as leader will cause “irreparable damage” if it buries the reasons for the party’s worst result since 1935.

Mr Blair, who is the only Labour leader to have won a general election in the last 45 years, is to make the warning in a speech today as he publishes a damning report on the party’s election failure.

It criticises the “sectarian ultra-left politics” that have taken over the party, blames Mr Corbyn for driving away traditional supporters and says: “Labour needs not just a different driver, but a different bus.”

Mr Blair is to tell an audience in central London that the result “marks a moment in history” and was “no ordinary defeat for Labour” as the party undergoes a battle to replace Mr Corbyn and diagnose the causes of the disaster.

“The choice for Labour is to renew itself as the serious, progressive, non-conservative competitor for power in British politics, or retreat from such an ambition, in which case over time it will be replaced,” he is expected to add.

The report, based on polling and focus group research by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, states: “Our research shows that the breach need not be permanent, but simply changing the leader will not be enough.

“The problems go far deeper; and so must the solutions. Labour needs not just a different driver, but a different bus.”

Warning: Tony Blair.