Tony Blair has launched a scathing attack on Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting, accusing them of abandoning the centre ground and putting Labour's future at risk. In a 5,700-word essay published on Tuesday, the former prime minister warned that the party's 'almost infinite capacity for self-delusion' makes it likely to lose the next election.
Blair argued for the government to crack down on welfare spending, abandon restrictions on oil and gas, and smooth relations with Donald Trump. He criticised Starmer's approach to the US war with Iran, cuts to international aid, and policies such as Angela Rayner's employment rights bill and Ed Miliband's net zero drive, calling them 'headwinds, not tailwinds to British business'.
A senior Labour source dismissed Blair's intervention, accusing him of abandoning social democratic values and embracing an agenda with 'no answers'. The source said: 'Tony has evidently not been near a working-class Brit for decades but he's clearly been away with the tech bro fantasists.'
Blair also attacked Burnham and Streeting for their ideas on tax and spending, describing them as 'perennial delusions' that had been rejected by serious governments. However, he cautioned against removing Starmer as prime minister, saying a leadership change was irrelevant without a proper policy debate.
