Tony Blair causes stir with scathing attack on Labour
The former Labour prime minister has made controversial comments calling for Labour to abandon net zero and move closer to Trump
The ex-Labour prime minister Tony Blair has launched a blistering attack on the Labour leadership, accusing Keir Starmer of not having a “worked-out coherent plan for the country”.
In a 5,700-word essay published on the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change website, Blair has argued that it is not “Keir’s personality” or “a failure to communicate” that is Labour’s biggest problem, but its lack of a policy platform.
The three-time Labour prime minister criticised the Starmer government’s Employment Rights Act, its acceleration of net zero and its decision to raise the minimum wage.
Blair argued that these policies had created “headwinds not tailwinds” for UK businesses.
Blair wrote that Labour should now crack down on welfare spending, abandon restrictions on oil and gas and smooth relations with Donald Trump.
He spoke about how governing in the age of AI will be “the principal challenge and opportunity”.
His think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, has received over £257 million from Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of tech company Oracle.
Blair also challenged Andy Burnham’s criticism of ‘40 years of neo-liberalism’, arguing that Labour should not move “even further left on taxes, spending and welfare”.
While Blair is celebrated for several of his achievements as prime minister, such as introducing the National Minimum Wage, cutting child poverty and increasing spending on public services, his legacy is deeply divisive due to his decision to take the UK into the war in Iraq.
Reacting to Blair’s essay, Corbyn wrote on X: “Tony Blair thinks the answer to this country’s problems is AI, welfare cuts and endless spending on war.
“Who benefits? Arms companies and tech billionaires.
“Once again, Blair is wrong. The answer is a redistribution of wealth and power and the relentless search for peace.”
The New Economics Foundation has said that Blair has “massively misdiagnosed” the UK’s problems.
In a post on X, they wrote: “Abandoning net zero would put us at great risk of price shocks and instability in future. The government should instead be focusing on delivering investment in the green transition and our public services.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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