Northumberland MP says Tony Blair ‘out of touch’ with public after attack on Government

Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery hit back at Sir Tony and accused him of “abandoning” working class communities when in Government.

Left Wing MP Mr Lavery’s criticism came after the former Sedgefield MP Sir Tony accused the Labour Government of being “parked firmly in the party’s comfort zone” and urged it to move to the “radical centre”. The former PM’s comments came as part of a lengthy 3,000-word essay posted online.

Mr Lavery, who entered parliament in 2010 after Blair’s Government, said: “While there are contrasting views, to say the least, on the former PM, it is indisputably true that he won three general elections.

“What is also indisputable is that between 1997 and 2005 Labour lost the trust of almost four million voters. That collapse came from abandoning the working-class communities whose values, people and movements had been the foundation of the party for more than a century.

“Since then, less charismatic versions of Blair, alongside his allies and disciples such as Peter Mandelson, have continued to hollow the party out. Let’s be clear: if Tony Blair believes the political recipe for regaining the trust of the nation’s people is to target the poor and disabled, abandon net zero, cosy up to Trump and criticise the Employment Rights Bill, then he is totally out of touch.

“Perhaps those suggesting this latest intervention reflects a former Prime Minister who has met more presidents and oligarchs than ordinary voters are correct. Blair’s politics, and their grip on Labour, should be consigned to history.

“The programme he unleashed in government, privatisation of the NHS, the academisation of schools, the marketisation of public services and the politics of endless war, has no place in a Labour movement supposedly built to serve ordinary people. Nor should industrial lobbying on behalf of big tech, billionaires or authoritarian regimes.”

Following Labour’s disastrous results in the local elections, Mr Lavery called on Sir Keir Starmer to step aside. He has since said that he believes Labour must return to its traditional values to win back supporters.

In contrast, Sir Tony said: “It is one thing when in opposition to indulge this perennial delusion that when we lose seats to the right the country is really signalling it wants Labour to move left; it is dangerous to do it in government.

“Yes, Britain needs radical change, but the difficulty (not just in Britain) is that too often the sensible people aren’t radical, and the radical people aren’t sensible.”

He added that the “best political space” from which the country’s key challenges can be met is from the “radical centre”. Sir Tony also advocated for planning reform and called on the Government to abandon its net zero commitments and use the remaining oil and gas resources in the North Sea.

Sir Tony added: “It is not inevitable we decline. Britain still has huge strengths, highly talented people and a residual respect in the world.

“But we must show we understand how that world is changing and what our place in it should be. That requires, in turn, a fundamental change in our current politics.”