Tony Blair plots Labour renewal plan amid fears for Starmer's leadership
The former prime minister is concerned about the party’s lurch to the left after Keir Starmer’s tax-raising budget.
Sir Tony Blair’s think tank is putting together a comprehensive policy plan for how to renew Britain and save the Labour Party amid speculation that Sir Keir Starmer will face a leadership contest next year.
Friends of the former prime minister said he is frustrated about the trajectory of Sir Keir’s government. One source said that last week’s budget “killed any idea this is a Blairite or New Labour-like government”.
“Some of the individuals are there [former New Labour figures], but there isn’t an overall plan to radically reform the state,” the source added.
Labour figures who have spoken to Sir Tony in recent months said he had all but “given up” on attempting to influence Starmer. One friend said: “He is looking closely at each of the leadership campaigns.”
Sir Tony will speak on Wednesday at an in-conversation event with Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary. Ms Mahmood and Sir Tony are both from the right of the Labour Party.
The home secretary has spoken at some events hosted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) think tank. Ms Mahmood has been tipped as a potential challenger in any leadership contest, which could come after the local elections in May.
Sir Tony’s think tank is working with other centre-left thinkers to propose radical policies on areas such as healthcare, welfare and technology. The plan is being put together with an eye to the future and could provide any future leadership candidates with ready-made policies.
The Times understands that Ms Mahmood recently complained about the state of political debate within centre-left politics at a private dinner hosted by the Labour Together think tank. She said that too many people in Labour are not facing up to the challenge of immigration or the UK’s spiralling welfare bill.
Earlier this year, Sir Tony told the authors of Prosperity Through Growth: Boosting Living Standards in an Age of Autocracy and AI that Britain’s tax burden was too high. This was said to include a reference to the higher 40 per cent tax band.
One minister said it is “Tony Blair and 50 million other people” who are unhappy with the direction of the government. “It would be weird if he was chuffed,” they said.
Sir Tony warned in a TBI report in April that there needed to be a radical reset of “irrational” net-zero policies because they are “doomed to fail” in what was seen as a rebuke to the government. The report prompted a row, forcing the think tank to deny Sir Tony’s comments were a criticism of Sir Keir or Ed Miliband, the energy secretary.
There is unhappiness within the moderate wing of the Labour Party for a perceived leftward turn by Sir Keir in recent months. Rachel Reeves’s decision to raise taxes by £26 billion ($52bn) to increase welfare spending have been used as an example.
Labour MPs believe a leadership challenge could happen after the local elections if the party performs as badly as polling suggests.
A LabourList poll of the party’s members just days after showed Ms Mahmood has a -6 net approval rating, which was a 32 percentage point drop from September. Mr Miliband is at the top of the rankings, followed by Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, and John Healey, the defence secretary.
The Times
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