Tony Blair has achieved a rare feat: uniting the Labour Party in opposition to him. His recent essay on Britain's future, released during the parliamentary recess, dominated headlines but drew sharp criticism for its outdated worldview, particularly regarding US foreign policy.
Columnist Jonathan Freedland argues that Blair's analysis of two 'epochal changes'—geopolitical shifts and technological disruption—is undermined by his unwavering support for the US. Despite the disastrous outcome of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Blair criticises Keir Starmer for refusing to back Donald Trump's military actions, including the use of British bases for refuelling.
The war, Freedland notes, has been an 'abject disaster'. It failed to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, disrupted but did not destroy its ballistic missile capability, and handed Tehran a chokehold on global trade via the Strait of Hormuz. The regime has also arrested over 6,000 dissidents since the conflict began, according to Amnesty International.
Blair's call for Britain to 'stick with the US' echoes his stance before the Iraq War, which Freedland says led to calamitous consequences. The columnist concludes that Blair's vision is 'woefully stuck in the past', ignoring the failures of US-led interventions and the need for an independent British foreign policy.
