Interesting Question & Answer session at Queen Mary, University of London, where Blair expressed his regret that Labour had not cut spending before the recession struck. The Labour Fundamental Spending Review, which Blair says “didn’t really go anywhere”, offered an opportunity to make savings. Instead, it was sunk out of anti-Blair spite by Gordon Brown – with Ed Milband and Ed Balls in his coterie.
Blair made two key points:
1.The Brownites, who now run the Labour Party, blocked a real opportunity to save taxpayers’ money.
2.There has been structural waste in the system for years – so austerity is possible and desirable, separately to the savings forced on us by the downturn.
Neither of these messages sit comfortably with the two Eds. They were part of the group that blocked these savings, weakening our position when the financial crisis struck. They knew savings were possible back in 2005 but have spent the last eight years claiming the opposite.
I did like the former PMs last grenade into Balls and Miliband’s fishpond:
“I advise any young person who wants to go into politics today: go and spend some time out of politics. Go and work for a community organisation, a business, start your own business — do anything that isn’t politics for at least several years.”
My track record prior to politics is on my website - I consider jockey, businessman, lawyer and sometime cook and charity activist, and councillor a good cross section of training. No prizes for what the two Ed's did before being MPs
