FORMER BRITISH prime minister Tony Blair has backed his successor Gordon Brown in the forthcoming general election, but warned the Labour Party it “shouldn’t be in politics at all” if it cannot take the Conservative party “apart” over the next few years.
Speaking in his former Sedgefield constituency, Mr Blair produced a tour-de-force performance, delivering a scathing verdict on the Conservatives’ judgment during the height of the economic crisis and raising questions about the election platform prepared by Tory leader David Cameron.
Mr Blair’s decision to back Mr Brown publicly – despite the bitter, fractious, but often mutually dependent relationship the two experienced as prime minister and chancellor of the exchequer – will be welcomed by Downing Street, though the off-script “shouldn’t be in politics” reference has irked some there.
In his speech, Mr Blair made just brief references to Mr Brown by name: “At the moment of peril the world acted. Britain acted. The decision to act required experience, judgment and boldness. It required leadership. Gordon Brown supplied it.”
A final decision about Mr Blair’s campaign role has yet to be made, but the speech was a better critique of the Conservatives than anything so far produced by Mr Brown, and the latter will not want to be eclipsed.
Mr Blair said “questions” about Tory policies had grown in voters’ minds: “They look like they’re either the old Tory party, but want to hide it or they’re not certain which way to go. But either is not good news.”
He ridiculed Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne’s £5.6 billion (€6.3 billion) pledge this week to reverse completely Labour’s National Insurance rise for those earning under £35,000, and to partially reverse it for those earning up to £45,000.
The commitment contradicts the Conservatives’ oft-repeated promise to reduce the United Kingdom’s expanding national debt: “On economic policy, one week the absolute priority is deficit reduction.
“Okay, again clear. But yesterday a big tax cut became the centrepiece and not a vague ‘when things are better’ aspiration, but a full-on pledge. Leave aside for a minute the rights and wrongs of the policies. What can’t be left aside is that they are plainly diametrically opposite.”
The Conservatives under leader David Cameron had made some progress, particularly on some social issues, such as racial equality, said Mr Blair, who has, in the past, expressed some admiration for the younger man’s political skills.
“But when it comes to the big policy issues, there is a puzzle, that has turned into a problem that has now become a long, hard pause for thought: where are they centred? Is there a core?” he asked.
“They seem like they haven’t made up their mind about where they stand. And so the British public finds it hard to make up its mind about where it stands. In uncertain times, there is a lot to be said for certain leadership,” he went on.
On the European Union, the Conservatives have “gone right when they should have gone centre”, losing influence with German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy for no good cause.
“Of course those leaders will work with whichever party is elected. But forfeiting goodwill in such a spectacular fashion won’t be a great beginning,” said Mr Blair, who sounded comfortable and relaxed throughout.
On law and order, the Tories have “gone liberal” when they should have stayed conservative, opposing tougher laws to deal with terrorism and thuggish conduct on the streets of the country, along with keeping DNA records on file for six years.