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Tony Blair: Labour faces 'annihilation' if Jeremy Corbyn wins leadership Tony Blair: Labour faces 'annihilation' if Jeremy Corbyn wins leadership
(about 2 hours later)
The Labour party is in the worst danger in its 100-year history and faces possible annihilation if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership, Tony Blair has warned.The Labour party is in the worst danger in its 100-year history and faces possible annihilation if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership, Tony Blair has warned.
Related: Even if you hate me, please don’t take Labour over the cliff edge | Tony BlairRelated: Even if you hate me, please don’t take Labour over the cliff edge | Tony Blair
In a desperate appeal to Labour members and supporters, the former prime minister urged them to set aside their opinions about his three terms in power and save the party from self-destruction by rejecting Corbyn’s politics.In a desperate appeal to Labour members and supporters, the former prime minister urged them to set aside their opinions about his three terms in power and save the party from self-destruction by rejecting Corbyn’s politics.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the left, right or centre of the party, whether you used to support me or hate me,” he wrote. “But please understand the danger we are in. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the left, right or centre of the party, whether you used to support me or hate me,” he wrote. “But please understand the danger we are in. The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below. This is not a moment to refrain from disturbing the serenity of the walk on the basis it causes ‘disunity’. It is a moment for a rugby tackle if that were possible.”
“The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below. This is not a moment to refrain from disturbing the serenity of the walk on the basis it causes ‘disunity’. It is a moment for a rugby tackle if that were possible.”
He made his plea in an article for the Guardian after a YouGov opinion poll suggested Corbyn, a veteran leftwinger, is heading for a landslide victory, with Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall having failed to enthuse the electorate.He made his plea in an article for the Guardian after a YouGov opinion poll suggested Corbyn, a veteran leftwinger, is heading for a landslide victory, with Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall having failed to enthuse the electorate.
Last month, Blair urged people not to wrap themselves in a leftwing comfort blanket and claimed the Conservatives want Corbyn to win, while his former spin doctor Alistair Campbell this week called on Labour members to pick “anyone but Corbyn”. Last month, Blair urged people not to wrap themselves in a leftwing comfort blanket and claimed the Conservatives want Corbyn to win, while his former spin doctor Alastair Campbell this week called on Labour members to pick “anyone but Corbyn”.
If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won’t be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean routIf Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won’t be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean rout
However, his latest article represents a significant intensification of the warnings and suggests there is mounting panic in the Labour party establishment about the idea that Corbyn is heading for victory. However, Blair’s latest article represents a significant intensification of the warnings and suggests there is mounting panic in the Labour party establishment about the idea that Corbyn is heading for victory.
Blair said it was “laughable” to think that Corbyn was offering anything new and the situation was worse even than during the 1980s in the days of Michael Foot, who was at least a “towering figure”, and Tony Benn, who was “a huge political character with a long experience of government.” His appeal is directed mostly at longstanding Labour members and newer supporters who have joined “without an agenda”. Yet some MPs who oppose Corbyn are concerned it will backfire because of their former leader’s divisive reputation and would rather the message came from Ed Miliband or Gordon Brown.
In the article, Blair said it was “laughable” to think that Corbyn was offering anything new and the situation was worse even than during the 1980s in the days of Michael Foot, who was at least a “towering figure”, and Tony Benn, who was “a huge political character with a long experience of government”.
“If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won’t be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean rout, possibly annihilation,” he wrote.“If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won’t be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean rout, possibly annihilation,” he wrote.
In response to Blair’s article, a spokesman for the Corbyn campaign said: “We are keeping our campaign positive and remain focused on our policies that offer the sound economic choice of investment and growth, not the politically driven agenda of austerity and cuts preventing economic recovery.”
In July, Corbyn dismissed Blair’s “silly” warnings about his campaign and highlighted the former prime minister’s loss of support after the Iraq war.In July, Corbyn dismissed Blair’s “silly” warnings about his campaign and highlighted the former prime minister’s loss of support after the Iraq war.
Michael Meacher, a Labour former minister and supporter of Corbyn, said Blairites need to understand that the surge in enthusiasm for the Islington North MP represents the dismantling of the New Labour era.Michael Meacher, a Labour former minister and supporter of Corbyn, said Blairites need to understand that the surge in enthusiasm for the Islington North MP represents the dismantling of the New Labour era.
“It is the biggest non-revolutionary upturning of the social order in modern British politics,” he said. “The Blairite coup of the mid-1990s hijacked the party to the Tory ideology of ‘leave it all to the markets and let the state get out of the way’, and when asked what was her greatest achievement Mrs Thatcher triumphantly replied ‘New Labour’. “It is the biggest non-revolutionary upturning of the social order in modern British politics,” he said. “The Blairite coup of the mid-1990s hijacked the party to the Tory ideology of ‘leave it all to the markets and let the state get out of the way,’ and when asked what was her greatest achievement Mrs Thatcher triumphantly replied ‘New Labour’.
“After 20 years of swashbuckling capitalism the people of Britain have finally said enough, and Labour is now finally regaining its real principles and values. Understandably the Blairite faction is disconcerted by their abrupt loss of power, but they have a duty to remain loyal to the Labour party as the left has always done”. “After 20 years of swashbuckling capitalism, the people of Britain have said ‘enough,’ and Labour is finally regaining its real principles and values. Understandably, the Blairite faction is disconcerted by their abrupt loss of power, but they have a duty to remain loyal to the Labour party as the left has always done.”
Blair made his intervention on a day of turmoil for the contest, as the three trailing candidates – Burnham, Cooper and Kendall – wrote to the general secretary, Iain McNicol, expressing concerns about the way the process is being handled. Blair made his intervention on the day there was a massive last-minute surge in new members and supporters signing up to vote before the deadline, as tens of thousands of activists appear to have been galvanised by Corbyn’s clear anti-austerity message.
It is understood their biggest complaint is that they will not get access to the list of 90,000 affliated supporters for around another 10 days, while they have suspicions that the unions could already have shared this with Corbyn. In the last 24 hours, the trade unions have more than doubled the number of signed-up supporters to 190,000, and those who paid £3 to become registered supporters soared from 70,000 to 120,000. The surge in union-related support in particular is expected to benefit the Corbyn campaign, given that many of the biggest – including Unite and Unison – have endorsed him.
A senior source in one of the leadership camps said his team also had “big concerns” that tens of thousands – and even up to half of the 70,000 registered supporters – do not really share the values of the Labour party. So far, 1,800 people have been weeded out after vetting. The party has been struggling to cope with almost 400,000 new members and supporters, taking the total possible electorate to more than 610,000, each of whom is being checked to make sure they are not “entryists” from other parties trying to influence the result.
The party has been struggling to cope with almost 250,000 new members and supporters, each of whom is being checked to make sure they are not “entryists” from other parties trying to influence the result. Around 88,000 have still not been vetted. At one point on Wednesday, the party’s website crashed amid a surge in people attempting to sign up at the last minute. Labour issued an apology and extended the deadline by three hours, but there were numerous complaints on social media about problems with signing up and worries, especially among Corbyn supporters, that they could be excluded.
Corbyn paid tribute to the Labour party’s staff, “who have worked so hard to deliver a robust selection system in totally new circumstances”.
However, his confidence in the system is not shared by the three trailing candidates – Burnham, Cooper and Kendall – who wrote to the general secretary, Iain McNicol, expressing concerns about the way the process is being handled.
It is understood their biggest complaint is that they will not get access to the list of affiliated supporters for around another 10 days, while they have suspicions that the unions could already have shared this with Corbyn.
A senior source in one of the leadership camps said his team also had big concerns that tens of thousands of the registered supporters do not share the values of the Labour party. So far, 1,800 people have been weeded out after vetting.
Related: Labour leadership: voter registration extended after website crashRelated: Labour leadership: voter registration extended after website crash
The election process also suffered a hitch when the party’s website crashed amid a surge in people attempting to sign up at the last minute. Labour had to issue an apology and extend the deadline for signing up by three hours but there were numerous complaints on social media about problems with signing up.
However, Corbyn himself paid tribute to the Labour party’s staff “who have worked so hard to deliver a robust selection system in totally new circumstances.”
“The professionalism and commitment of the party’s staff shows our movement at its best,” he said.
With a month to go before the winner is announced, Burnham, the shadow health secretary, will on Thursday go on the attack over the government’s bulk release of NHS performance statistics, which is expected to show longer waiting times for some conditions. His camp also argued its data – and figures from another candidate’s campaign – now show he is clearly the only candidate who can beat Corbyn.With a month to go before the winner is announced, Burnham, the shadow health secretary, will on Thursday go on the attack over the government’s bulk release of NHS performance statistics, which is expected to show longer waiting times for some conditions. His camp also argued its data – and figures from another candidate’s campaign – now show he is clearly the only candidate who can beat Corbyn.
Cooper is expected to give a speech on Thursday tackling some of Corbyn’s arguments head-on, while Kendall sent him a letter asking him to clarify his position on restoring clause IV of the Labour party constitution. Cooper is expected to give a speech on Thursday tackling some of Corbyn’s arguments head on.
Meanwhile, Kendall sent Corbyn a letter asking him to clarify his position on restoring clause IV of the Labour party constitution.
While Corbyn appears to have the support of the majority of activists, the mood of the parliamentary party is extremely gloomy about the prospect of his victory.While Corbyn appears to have the support of the majority of activists, the mood of the parliamentary party is extremely gloomy about the prospect of his victory.
One senior Labour MP and former cabinet minister told the Guardian that now is the time for figures such as Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown to speak out with their views but the interventions of arch-Blairites were self-indulgent and unhelpful to the other three candidates. One senior Labour MP and former minister said that now is the time for figures such as Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown to speak out, but the interventions of arch-Blairites were self-indulgent and unhelpful to the other three candidates.
On Wednesday, Shirley Williams, the Liberal Democrat peer, even suggested Labour centrists could join with Lib Dems to form a new grouping if Corbyn wins. On Wednesday, Shirley Williams, the Liberal Democrat peer and former SDP co-founder, even suggested Labour centrists could join with Lib Dems to form a new group if Corbyn wins.
Related: Blair urges Labour not to wrap itself in a Jeremy Corbyn comfort blanketRelated: Blair urges Labour not to wrap itself in a Jeremy Corbyn comfort blanket
Williams, who was one of four Labour MPs who formed the breakaway Social Democratic party (SDP) in 1981, said she did not think it would happen immediately but there was a good chance of a new centre-left party coming together in the next few years.
She told the Huffington Post: “I don’t think there will be a very quick breakaway but I think what there will be, in my view over the next couple of years, a move towards saying why doesn’t the democratic left get together and there’s quite a lot of people saying that already.
“In order to do that they would have to buy into certain fundamental values. I think therefore there’s a basis for a coming together among the slightly leftier end of the Liberal Democrats and the slightly centralist area of the Labour party.”
The first batch of ballots will be sent out to longstanding members from Friday. More ballot papers and emails will then go out over the coming weeks, with 48 officials in Newcastle and a further 30 in London working round the clock to verify all the new applications in time.
The party will continue disqualifying applicants it believes do not share Labour values even after the deadline for signing up has passed.
However, a number of Corbyn supporters are worried about the possibility they will be excluded after receiving notifications of further checks or hearing nothing back after trying to sign up. These include dozens who have posted on the Guardian readers’ live blog with worries that their applications will not be accepted.
Others complained that the party said it could not find them on the electoral register even though they voted three months ago, while many were worried that a brief flirtation with the Greens at the last election would disqualify them from having a say.
A senior Labour source said there was absolutely no reason for people to be worried unless they were clear supporters of other parties, and applicants were likely to receive their ballots as normal, even if they had not been given explicit confirmation. A party spokeswoman said the process was “fair and robust”.