The Blairites can't fight the last war all over again without destroying Labour
Matthew d'Ancona 5:06pm
Tony Blair, as I report in today's Sunday Telegraph, is trying to rein in his supporters, keen that they not become to Gordon what the Eurosceptic 'Bastards' were to John Major. The former PM is right that his own reputation will suffer if a neo-Blairite rump is perceived to be sabotaging Brown.
Such considerations, however, do not seem to have restrained Lord Falconer, the ultra-Blairite former Lord Chancellor, who pointedly calls on Gordon today to offer a 'vision' - the very word used by the PM when he explained why he was not holding an election now. It is widely reported that Alan Milburn, Stephen Byers and Charles Clarke are preparing to weigh in.
This would be a grave error. Whether or not the Blairite critique of Gordon is justified, the public hates divided parties. The Eurosceptic attack on Major in the mid-Nineties was mostly well-deserved. It was also a crucial factor in the sheer scale of the Tory collapse in 1997. For better or for worse, the Labour Party chose Brown as its leader and could not even organise a challenger from left or right so that there was at least a debate about the Government's trajectory. The party must live with its choice. To do anything else would be to court oblivion.
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Comments
RJ
October 14th, 2007 6:39pmWe can only wait and hope.
Frank Leader
October 15th, 2007 5:36amThe sooner the better. The pensions thief is at it again. This time via Darling now fiddling with the State Second Pension.
David Lindsay
October 15th, 2007 11:42amThe First Blairobite Rebellion wil certainly not be the last. How I have been excoriated on my blog in the past for pointing out the simple fact that Tony Blair and his allies hate Gordon Brown, regard his government as illegitimate, see David Cameron as the rightful heir, therefore wish Cameron to beat Brown (which he actually cannot do, because the constituency boundaries have been used to rig the Election; but never mind), and will go to absolutely any lengths to bring this about. Does anyone still doubt it today? Get used to this sort of thing, because there is going to be A LOT more of it...