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Friday, 14 August 2015

Decision time for Labour members, with a warning from Tony Blair

Clearly Kendall has spoken the truth that dare not speak its name to labour members - namely that a left wing, anti business, regressive Labour Party who opposed aspiration and failed to inspire - but she will come last. My labour friends, spies and fellow MPs tell me Burnham is toast - in the words of one "he should buy some flip flops he has shifted position so many times". But Cooper is everyone's second choice thereby making her the new favourite. If Corbyn does not get 50% first up then Cooper could win but Corbyn is still my strong favourite to win.
This from Tony Blair yesterday on why Corbyn would be a disaster for Labour:
"The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched, over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below. This is not a moment to refrain from disturbing the serenity of the walk on the basis it causes “disunity”. It is a moment for a rugby tackle if that were possible….
It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the left, right or centre of the party, whether you used to support me or hate me. But please understand the danger we are in…
If Jeremy Corbyn becomes leader it won’t be a defeat like 1983 or 2015 at the next election. It will mean rout, possibly annihilation… Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t offer anything new. This is literally the most laughable of all the propositions advanced by his camp. Those of us who lived through the turmoil of the 80s know every line of this script. These are policies from the past that were rejected not because they were too principled, but because a majority of the British people thought they didn’t work. And by the way, they were rejected by electorates round the world for the same reasons…
We know where this ends. We have been here before. But this sequel will be a lot scarier than the original. So write it if you want to. Go over the edge if you want. But think about those we most care about and how to help them before you do.”