Labour's five hopefuls say Blair/Brown era is history

Published on Sunday 5 September 2010 16:50

Labour's five leadership candidates all said it was time to move on from the Blair/Brown era as they took part in a televised debate in the wake of the explosive Tony Blair memoirs.

Mr Blair himself declined to endorse any of the contenders and promised to support whoever is elected "100 per cent".

But commentators who suspect him of favouring front-runner David Miliband will note that he praised him as "a quite remarkable guy".

In a clear sign of the shift in atmosphere within Labour since Mr Blair's time in charge, all five hopefuls were happy to describe themselves as "socialist" when they appeared in the Sky News debate.

When the candidates were asked whether they preferred Mr Blair or Mr Brown, David Miliband deftly ducked the question by replying: "Tony is not on a ballot paper, Gordon is not on a ballot paper, Michael Foot is not on a ballot paper, Tony Benn is not on a ballot paper. It's a new generation on the ballot paper."

The identity of the new leader will be announced in Manchester on 25 September ahead of the annual conference.

Yesterday, all of the candidates were ready to acknowledge failings in the Labour administrations of the past 13 years.

David Miliband said it was "too top-down, too much about one man - first of all Tony, then Gordon", while his brother Ed said New Labour had become "stuck in the past" on issues such as low pay, civil liberties and the special relationship with the US. Ed Balls said New Labour had "lost its way in the second term". And Andy Burnham said New Labour had pursued a "top-down, controlling, elitist, London-centric" style of politics.

Diane Abbott said mistakes such as the Iraq War had overshadowed Labour's positive achievements, including investment in schools and hospitals.