Tony Blair - New Labour: Move to left will bring even bigger defeat

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 20:12

LABOUR must re-embrace the values of New Labour that were lost under Gordon Brown if it wants to return to power, according to Tony Blair.

In a passionate postscript, the former prime minister warns against a lurch back to the left and "Labour's comfort zone".

His comments have been taken by some to suggest he is, by implication, backing David Miliband for the Labour leadership.

Similar comments by Lord Mandelson over the weekend were seen as an attack on Ed Miliband, who has suggested Labour should move leftwards.

However, the only person Mr Blair endorses as a possible future leader is former Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander; he says he regrets being unable to wean him away from Mr Brown's inner circle.

Speaking of the future, Mr Blair warned: "The danger for Labour now is that we drift off, or even more decisively off, to the left. If we do, we will lose even bigger next time."

Mr Alexander said: "It is important now that we move on from the Blair/Brown era and we come up with new ideas for the future."

However, another David Miliband supporter, Inverclyde MP David Cairns, who resigned from the Brown government, said: "Blair was Labour's greatest ever strategist and we should ignore this ludicrous Blair hate industry which seems to have sprung up."