During the campaign to get Jeremy Corbyn elected there has been a great many silly arguments used to rubbish him and the left. Blair’s intervention angered many. Hence the title.
However, although many have told Blair to go back to do what he is good at; genuflecting in front of unsavoury, dictatorships around the world and taking 300 grand for a 20 minute talk to African leaders on child poverty no one, as far as I know, has analysed the implications of his arguments. He said…and you need to think carefully about this…that he would not even want a leftwing leader with Corbyn’s ideas to win even if it was possible, which he argued it wasn’t.
Now if anyone can cast their minds back to 1995/6 and remember the reasons he gave for adopting so many Tory policies was that this is what was needed to get elected BECAUSE that is what the British electorate wanted. They did not want left wing ideas. He hid behind his interpretation of what the electorate wanted. He did NOT say he did not want left wing ideas to dominate his government. because he was opposed to them but because other’s did not like them.Many read this as a coded message that when in government he would move from being mild mannered Clarke Kent to a socialist superman. I remember this debate in my workplace.How wrong those that believed this were.
Blair let the cat out of the bag last week. Let us not forget it.