Blair pleads with Labour not to lurch to the Left
Kendall campaign hails former prime minister as senior figures warn of civil war
TONY BLAIR is today expected to warn Labour against lurching to the Left, in his first intervention since the immediate aftermath of the party’s election defeat.
The former prime minister will say that Labour must win back the centre ground, as grandees warned that the party was in “emotional trauma” and faced the “most serious crisis” in its history. It comes after nearly 50 Labour MPs, including 18 who won their seats in May, voted against the Welfare Bill in defiance of an order from Harriet Harman, the acting leader, to abstain.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, seized on Labour’s woes over the Bill and accused the party of veering to the Left.
Mr Blair will speak at an event hosted by Progress. He will be introduced by John Woodcock, the think-tank’s chairman and one of Liz Kendall’s strongest supporters.
A YouGov poll published last night revealed that the hard-Left leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn is on course to beat the previous front runner Andy Burnham by 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR TONY BLAIR is today expected to urge Labour to win back the centre ground in an intervention which will be seen as a significant boost for Liz Kendall in the party’s leadership race.
Labour MPs said the party risked “heading back to the 1980s” after it descended into civil war over the Welfare Bill. Nearly 50 Labour MPs, including 18 who won their seats in May, voted against the measures as grandees warned that the party was in “emotional trauma” and faced the “most serious crisis” in its history.
Mr Blair is today expected to say Labour must avoid lurching to the Left in his first intervention since the immediate aftermath of Labour’s devastating election defeat. The former prime minister will be introduced at an event in London by John Woodcock, one of Miss Kendall’s strongest supporters and the chairman of the Progress think tank.
Mr Woodcock will say Labour must learn from Mr Blair because he is the party’s only living leader who has taken them from opposition to government.
While Mr Blair will not specifically endorse Miss Kendall, her allies are likely to interpret his calls for Labour to appeal to Middle England as a tacit endorsement of her campaign.
In another move, Chuka Umunna will call today for a Federal Labour Party. The shadow business secretary is one of 16 Labour MPs to write a letter demanding separate parties in Scotland, England and Wales.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, yesterday seized on Labour’s woes over the Welfare Bill and accused the party of going “left, left, left”. The line was a deliberate reference to Michael Heseltine’s 1976 Conservative conference speech in which he claimed Labour was like a one-legged army limping from the battlefield.
Mr Osborne warned that Labour’s new intake of MPs, many of whom have links to the trade unions, are taking the party “away from the centre ground of British politics”.
The SNP yesterday exploited Labour’s divisions after also opting to oppose the Finance Bill. In Labour’s absence, SNP MPs sat on the front bench and described themselves as the “real opposition”. The SNP said that Labour would pay a “heavy price” at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections, having been wiped out north of the border in the general election.
Andy Burnham, another of the Labour leadership front-runners, has been accused of “flip-flopping” after suggesting he would oppose the Welfare Bill, only to abstain in Monday night’s vote.
He admitted that the party was in a “mess” over the issue and criticised Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, for failing to take a “strong enough position”. He said the party was “crying out for leadership”.
Barry Sheerman, the Labour backbencher who has been an MP since 1979, warned that the party could split. He said: “People who have been around as long as me should fire some warning shots. We don’t want to be in opposition for 18 years again.”
Kim Howells, a former Labour minister, said: “I think it is the most serious crisis I can remember in Labour’s history.”
David Blunkett, the former Labour Education Secretary, said: “I think the Labour party is understandably in emotional trauma. It’s bound to be after the loss in May and the bewilderment about where we go from here.”
‘I think it is the most serious crisis I can remember in Labour’s history’