Tony Blair on the Labour Party crisis - UNCUT INTERVIEW - BBC Newsnight 

That's how journalism works: the interviewer has an agenda to push and manoeuvres you into saying what she/he wants you to say. It's up to interviewee to recognize this and outmanoeuvre the journalist.

@@allenmontrasio8962 what do you think her agenda is here?

Doesn't really matter, I was speaking generally, but - to the point: defend Corbyn's catastrofic defeat and make Blair look like a dick.

That’s called scrutiny. 👍

@@allenmontrasio8962 but why? Being critical isn't the same as being cynical. Not everything is subversion.

This. Soooo this!

Never thought about it that way... so true

Feed up with up the feminist

Did this cretin ever have anything to add to the world? I see deaths that it created, certainly never saw any depth to the meglomaniac gibberish that came out of it's mouth.

She is a horror.

It's "intellectual" you see....

If u wore specs.....then u wud understand.....

@@neerajbenjamin9264 I do wear specs, ask questions before you make assumptions.

@@MrTonycoughlan wotever

Finally someone in the commentary who looks beyond the obvious. You are of a rare and admirable breed. Most others just love to nourish their grudge against him and stopped listening the moment he opened his mouth, even when wisdom was coming out.

Agreed and agreed

@Wilbur Wafer I know, the mess in the Middle East is partly (!) because Blair trusted US 'intel' and Colin Powell, who - let's agree on that - was a man of standing before the shit came down in Iraq in 2003. Let's just say I'm either just a naive turd or just an idiot, but somehow I think Blair acted in good faith. After all, what was there for Britain or Blair personally to be gained? Besides that, apart from the casus belli - the fictionalized WMD - there were plenty of good reasons to get rid of Saddam Hussein at the time as he was a very ennoying thorn in the side of all countries involved in the ME. One can blame Blair for being overly naive though about US intentions (to get their greedy fingers on Iriaqi oil), the lack of a strategy (other than Rumsfeld's 'schock and awe') and the lack of any interest in possible worst case scenarios after Hussein was disposed of. But we're talking 2003 here, just 2 years after 9/11 and clear signs that Al Qaeda was spreadig its wings in Mesopotamia as well (which proved to be a correct assessment by intelligence). I find the term "mass murderer" a stretch too far, but I agree that with the luxury of hindsight, this wasn't Blair's finest moment.

He understands political strategy and how to get power , but he has no political beliefs. He did nothing to reverse Thatcherite policies and he introduced PFIs to the NHS leaving it saddled with a gigantic £80 Billion debt.

@@lewisner Not certain about that. I think Blair knows all too well, that one cannot have a sustainable Labour government if that reverses every single Thatcherite measure. Don't forget: ultimately the swing vote (pretty conservative middle class voters mainly) determines the outcome of elections, not the steadfast supporters. Look at how Corbyn faired: a man of principle to the very last but with very little popular support. That's the problem in all of politics in a democracy, one has to be able to make a lot of compromises if one is to realize only a fraction of his beliefs. That is sad enough in itself, but I can't remember any politician winning an election on persuasive arguments and facts. It's all about (broad) appeal I'm afraid. Something Blair had (and rightfully lost) and now Johnson seems to have. I agree, his policies were far from ideal and he might have done a better job. But keeping all frogs in one basket is easier said than done, unfortunately. One has to be quite the pragmatic manager beside being an idealist to make things work. That is the honest truth and one few are willing to hear about or acknowledge. I'm not a Blairite, but sometimes I feel the need to put some perspective between the justifid outrage. I know, I'm a bit of a wanker ;)

Lol no. He's a war criminal. He should be in jail not on prime time tv

Yep. His logic is hard to argue against, which is why the vast majority of criticism refuses to engage with anything he says and resorts to personal attacks.

@@dreamer2260 While you are right, he should also still be in jail.

Has Wright Ignorant moron

lol... truth, without evidence? lol

Corbyn is the problem. He is like the problem child of Justin Trudeau totalitarianism and Anthony Fauci deception. Labor are comiting political suicide. On the other hand. Blair biggest problem was his foreign policy acting as Bush's lacky.

@@masnwrdl0511 no they aren’t. 85% of the population is white. Gammon.

@@masnwrdl0511 Calm Down Mein Furher

Yeh Blair really looked after this country well didn’t he?! 🤪. Evil

Time has shown you to be right. Corbynism has alienated Labour voters from their party.

Correct. But Labour do have a way back; they just have to promise to deliver on what the Tories have failed to do that they said they'd do; end mass immigration in favour of a points based system, be tougher on illegal drug/migrant crossings of the channel, deport foreign criminals and reject globalist policies in favour of focusing on building up our strained infrastructure

@@johnpaton6869 Well seeing as the Tories aren't even right wing in the slightest that's not exactly difficult. But partly yes; if you speak to most of the working class heartlands that Labour have lost, you'll find that that they are a socially conservative bunch but economically left leaning. What the Working Class of the North crave is; immigration reduced because it's gone too far for something we haven't voted on, it's putting a severe strain on our infrastructure that needs time to catch up with the population increase and it's also increasing our crime rates and national security as we're not properly checking who's coming in. They want the law applied fairly regardless of race/religion/gender/the lefts temper tantrums etc unless it's an illegal migrant who shouldn't be here, a little more equality in the economy, opportunity in education and investment on infrastructure that doesn't favour the South and instead of focusing on issues abroad with a globalist view of the world how about we solve our problems here at home first? Whether you like it or not that's what the working class in the North wants and (minus the part about the investment on infrastructure favouring the South) that's what the majority of the country wants too, that's what will win you elections if you promise to deliver on it.

@@johnpaton6869 That's how Labour acted too. Lol.

@Abhinandan Banerjee To arrogantly smear half the country as "paranoid nativists" is snobbery to the highest degree and is exactly why you aren't winning elections anymore. The Northern working class towns/cities have legitimate concerns that are being ignored and even exacerbated by leftist policies, Labour is supposed to be the party of the working class yet they are actively working against the working class and completely ignoring them. Hence the mass exodus. "Should the left even want the votes of such people?" fine, don't have the votes, but don't complain that you're not winning elections lmao. Labour as it exists as it is at the minute belongs on the fringes anyway, "Momentum" is the opposite side of the same coin to the BNP to me, except unlike them they were clever enough to hijack and take over one of the big 2 parties with a guaranteed voter base. Had Momentum started from scratch they'd be on the fringes where the BNP are, instead they're slowly dragging the Labour Party down to it. And yeah but... no. All the youth you've brainwashed will eventually grow up and see you for what you are; crazy, racist, sexist, self hating Marxists who will soon belong in a history book under the chapter "the silly years". Once these kids grow up, have a family and a career (You know; things they don't want to lose) they will immediately leave Socialism behind in their youth and become adults. As Winston Churchill once said; those who aren't liberals in their youth have no heart. Those who aren't conservatives in adulthood have no brain.

@Abhinandan Banerjee "the Tory" who said I'm a Tory? I align with no party, I can't stand the Tories they're liars, I only vote if there's someone I really want to go in to Downing Street (which hasn't happened yet) or if there's someone I desperately want kept out of it. I've only ever voted in elections when I learned about Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum etc. Take that for what you will. I might not like the Tories but I think Labours radical socialist element are dangerous and I want them kept as far away from power as Nick Griffin. And how can you stop anyone when you're a fringe element who's stated yourself that your one big hope of a comeback is the naivety of youth? Again; they'll grow up and leave this phase in their youth when they start a family, a career and get a nice house etc, because they won't want to lose those things.

Who?

@@stephenmurray2851 He was one of the worst PM in history.

@@jasonkingshott2971 All labour PMs normally are

@@stephenmurray2851 ...or criminals don't forget!

@wakenbaker-uk ...and people listen and are still listening to this clown!

On the other hand it gave Iraqis a chance to rid themselves of Saddam's terrible, disgusting, obscene regime. A regime that carried out torture, rape, murder and gassing of its own people. We didn't have to live under that obscene regime - they did.

Marty, I'm an iraqi born man. You are right the regime was not good. But what came after is 100+ Saddam's ruling our government. You have no idea what the war did to my country and people. It destroyed its social fabric and took it back 100 years. It created a vaccume for ISIS, and Iran control over a sovereign country. This is WORST than any dictatorship. The true terrorists were all those involved in the Iraq war. I love the UK and the people and 9 voted conservative but I will never forgive what the governments did to my home country.

@@martydav9475, might I ask if your views are similar on Gaddafi ?

Treckorz, I've met some very interesting and chilled people from your place of birth, in U.K. & Aus. You mention the u.k. and the vote. By now you've seen the lies that took the allied nations over there, who told the lies and just what the "western nations" people's and service people's know & feel..? Anyways, thanks for sharing your words and perspective. People need to know 😉

smallpicture a lie

Corbyn also played a significant role

Correct

@@samcad-ho3ze incorrect

Plus people rejected Corbyn & communism, until that stops, they will be in the wilderness As much as I hate Blair, he is right here

Tru Say Mi Bredrin...

You mean like left wing values the party was founded on ?

@@slipperywinston4076 There's left wing values, and then there's Corbynism which is FAR FAR LEFT.

No they shouldn't. This man single handedly ruin Britain. Destroyed our international perception. Help with the rise of China. Destabilised a whole region and with millions of deaths by his hands. All the while making him self rich and becoming an ambassador to the area he helped destroy. Feckless shape of a man. Inform your self

@@muglypunt968 Haha singlehandedly ruined Britain? If anyone did, it was Thatcher; we’re still living in her blasted, ruined political and social wasteland of a legacy. Helper with the rise of China? Oh my, you are sadly deluded if you think anything anyone in the UK did had any effect of note on China’s growth. Their economy grew by around 10% a year for thirty years, and still going at around 5/6%. And that started well before Blair’s tenure. Blair made a terrible error in following Bush into Iraq, but also bear in mind that the Americans were there too. It wasn’t just us; in fact our force barely scratched what the Americans sent. But in any case this is about whether Blair ruined Britain. Blair’s domestic agenda wasn’t perfect, but it was good. It resulted in significant improvements in the performance and service of the NHS, investments in education and public services, significant reductions in poverty. Was forward looking about climate change and the opportunities in new industries and technologies around that. The Tory hegemony since has simply been an effort to reverse all those gains and re-cement the power and wealth of those at the top, whilst retaining a fucking stupid, blinkered, short termism that’s seen us lag behind on climate change and the shift to new technologies when we could (and would have been under Labour) have been leading the world. Really as simple as that.

@@dreamer2260 he opened the door to millions of immigrants that have gutted the working class, as well as creating deep cultural divides that will only worsen. Sold us hook line and sinker to EU tied economy. He would have given away the pound but it was luckily held on to. Created a war that threw us further in to a unpayable debt and made us look like America's lap dogs on a world stage. Yeah yeah Thatcher..... The left has been killing this country for decades and normal people have woken up to that fact. Either the Labour party waked up or it gets destroyed. They have no connection to normal people and the conservatives are going to keep crushing them until they get off their suicide path of self mutilation. Which I personal find hilarious but here we go

@@dreamer2260 also the NHS has become untenable, education has only gotten worse since Blair and the government handouts are at an all time high. This is not sustainable and the Tory's have had to counter this with every spell in charge they have had. I'm no Tory but labour are evil. Using good intentions to cripple us financially, spirituality and socially. You can thank them when everything collapses. How can we support an ever growing social system without massive tax hikes? Why should normal people be forced to pay for others that don't care?

@@muglypunt968 you do realise open immigration is a right wing idea, right? Freedom of movement is a fundamentally capitalist idea, as freedom of workers to move around the globe is ideal for corporations. Also, many EU immigrants (poles) have a net surplus in how much they contribute to the economy, essentially they put more in than out.

Ironically so. tories should be the hardest yet any bumbling idiot can lead them to a majority election

Leading the long march of progress will always be harder than the defence of the status quo. Look at any progressive movement in history and it has been lead by progressives and resisted by conservatives. Anti-slavery, woman’s suffrage, the NHS, gay rights, workers rights, anti-war movements. In every single case, before they’re enacted and accepted on the back of a progressive movement, they’re revisited and attacked by a conservative establishment.

@@chrispeacock1257 gay rights? you mean gay marriage? Progressives have also destroyed the meaning of biological sex, nuclear family and undermined the nation-state by embracing global migration.

@@chrispeacock1257 “Progressives” are so headstrong about “‘moving forward”, they don’t bother to look beneath their feet. They’d step off a cliff and claim it was progressive. Society needs conservatives. Left to its own devices, the left would have society implode.

difficult leading a bunch of morons

He is suffering the torment for what happened in Iraq and it will haunt him for the rest of his days.

The man who built the New Labour is also the one who destroyed it.

Robin Jackson He won’t be sorry. He is stressed because of Brexit more like

he's stressed because he's power hungry and a megalomaniac but he has no way of influencing events. He should enjoy the massive wealth he has accumulated since leaving office and go quietly, he's no longer relevant or respected.

Perhaps because the country is in a far worse state now than it was during his premiership.

Yeah I know

to be fair, he is a very good speaker.

He's a liar. RIP Dr David Kelly.

@@solargold9213 He's extremely intelligent and perceptive. I'm much further left than him, but imo he's well worth listening to.

Also, he is the last Labour leader to win. And the only one to win in my lifetime (5 conservative leaders have won in my life). So he has some idea at how to make Labour electable

The British electorate refused to hire a communist government. After four losses, the last loss being a route, maybe it might be a great idea to shift back to the middle and give up your communist dreams of utopia...

The Labour party also thinks that if their next leader has a northern accent, everything will be fine!

@@stevetattersall5933 ............Or God forbid, a Birmingham one !

wildebest - it’s human nature to be drawn to charismatic people..

@wildebest Boris is honest?... Wow, I wouldn't say any politicians are honest

Exactly

and so it does and rightly too.

@@elwynjones763 you thought he should have stopped Brexit?

If he was smart, he would have campaigned for Brexit. That would've helped remain far more.

@@gwmcd no one would have believed him and he'd have to admit working against the country to sign us away in the first place after a promised referendum he'd reneged on, not to mention he's nationally despised, we see through that shite

I think he was saying Labour specifically couldn't win on Brexit, specifically because the base was split 60/40 on it anyway, so allowing the entire election to revolve around Brexit and the will of the people, Labour ceded the strategic advantage very early on.

@Derreck Jones But in 2019, if Labour had promess to uphold the result, MANY people would have voted Liberal Democrat. In 2017, the Lib Dem also promessed to uphold the result, which was always a joke. In any case, nobody voted for them. But just before Labour finally revealed their brexit policy, they were polling at 19 %, VERY CLOSE to Labour, because they actually said clearly that a vote for the Lib Dem was a vote to cancel Brexit. I don't think Labour had really any chance to win this election.

He was talking from a left-wing/Labour perspective.

Blair should take a lot of credit for Brexit, with all his and his cronies pro EU preaching, as a result, most of the great British public did the opposite, thanks Tone, and sorry about your future EU income.

He's not responsible, the Conservatives, particularly the ERG ARE!"!!

@@bryangeake5826 The Great British public are democratically responsible for leaving the racket called the EU. Blair was just one conduit in their decision making process. After all these years, he still doesn't get it but, thanks tone.

@@jasonkingshott2971 Racket?? For every £1 we put into the EU the UK economy benefits via the customs union and free trade areas status with a £16-17 Trillion economy on our doorstep to the ratio of £6. Through better prices, better investment opportunities, improved access to capitol and flexible labour supply!! If thats a racket, more please!!

@@jasonkingshott2971 The ENGLISH public. The parts of the English public with an inflated sense of English exceptionalism.

The working class is generally defined by its social conservatism Johnson did well to appeal to that labour has rejected that with crazy virtue signal liberalism

BOB Supple Exactly. This is why the labour MP’s had been trying to get Corbyn out for years prior- they knew attracting the young urbanites with their SJW liberal tendencies would alienate their base. Lo and behold.

On the contrary, the cohesive working class in the North voted solidly for Brexit and felt abandoned and betrayed by the 'middle class Londoners' running Labour. Tony Blair wanted a stronger REMAIN stance and was part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Sauron Merciful it could take 5-10 year as long as it happens. Thats the mane thing.

The only hope for Labour now is to elect a leader with deep trade union roots Then maybe they can win a election again...

Who???

@@johnmac1960 Justifiably so.

@@johnmac1960 Gordon Brown

Hmm.....The Scot...who lost Five Billion Of Gold Bullion in a bad, bad deal........Brown....Prime Minister But Not by Public Vote at Election Time!

Gordon Brown didnt win an election. Tony Blair is last elected labour PM

That makes no sense. You do realise that a referendum involves giving people a vote? Leavers would have been just as entitled to vote in it as anyone else

@@barry1369 He certainly isn’t a career politicians. Even the Old Labour heads who disliked him didn’t consider him a career politicians and denounced such claims. Come on, who would have wanted a career with Labour during Foot?

He means we needed to give him whatever he wanted. He is a sick b*stard! He was caught cottaging boys when he was younger.

@@manaih5652 I think that’s precisely why he joined the Labour Party, as a destitute organisation it was much easier to take over and mould in his image.

The Unions have always ignored the working man or woman

He always talks a lot of sense. and he knows how to win elections. For all his failings - he is/was a very good politician

Until he goes on about denying a democratic vote

@@philread7668 Yep, exactly.

Its annoying

streetlegalone .... balls, she lets him finish every point before asking the next question.

It's what Kirsty Wark does to all Labour heads,her and Laura are timid around the Tories!

It’s a female style because they’re not good at logical deduction

Lol and your the kind of person who doesn't look deeper at what's really happening. This man crippled a whole region, ultimately leading to Europe's destabilisation. Gutted the working class by opening the doors to unchecked immigration. Selling out to big business and making himself extremely wealthy. All the while concreting the future to make sure labour never gets elected again till they finally get rid of the nonsense they utter and the moron they elect as leaders. Quite frankly I'd be happier if the Labour party get beaten so badly they get destroyed. They have ruined Britain domestically and internationally. Thanks to people like you who voted for them....

And a disgusting war criminal

"Centre left position". You didn't pay attention, did you? His Cabinet was full of hardcore Communists, and he was President of the Fabian Society. Blair had one agenda and that was to become the Life President of the EU. We scuppered that for him when we left that corrupt organisation.

seems to be allusions to past wrongs in criticisms of mr blair ..... and i simply have no knowledge of it ..... but on the face of it, surely his views are at least worth airing

Sincerity and integrity!? He votes labour while disagreeing with the policies!!

It’s weird since I’m a remainer and I think the complete opposite of him. Anyway well done on winning the ref 👏👏

Lol. Tony Blair is a corrupt dumb fuck. Literally a non-serious propagandist.

LOL...he fell into every trap .... he exposed labours hypocrisy !

You should inform your self quickly. There are evil people pretending to be good and with your help they get power. Tony Blair is a monster. Labour have been for a very long time.

Tony Blair, the war monster was just a right-wing planted into labour.

The interviewer is absolutely infuriating. So unprofessional

@@joebloggs3551 He was extremely good at befriending Rupert Murdoch.

@@joebloggs3551 1) Of course people still read newspapers, especially the over 50s (who decide elections). It's also not just newspapers he owns, he has an entire media empire repeating the same messages and dictating the national conversation. Why do you think advertising is so effective? Because it works. Politics/News is no different. Rupert Murdoch's media empire has backed every election winning party since the 70's, including the Brexit referendum. 2) That stuff about education is right wing conspiracy theory BS which there is literally no evidence for.

@@joebloggs3551 Yeah it is actually, it's a great argument. Why? because it's based on fact. People have studied this shit. It's a fact that every side he's backed since the 70s has won, you can go and look it up and everything. So your idea is that what, Labour bribe teachers with public sector spending so that they'll teach left wing ideas to kids? Given that Labour has been out of power for 10 years, I'm not sure you've thought that through. Could it not just be that Labour wants to increase education spending so that your children receive a better education and more opportunities in life? Or so that teachers can afford to live properly while they teach your kids?

@@joebloggs3551 Right, and how long ago was that?

@@joebloggs3551 Love how you've just dropped all the "Labour are bribing teachers to brainwash kids" bollocks on the slightest bit of questioning

Retrosta a really good point, I was thinking the same about her interruptions.

Yes, it wasn't as if Blair was prevaricating or avoiding. Probably they have their prompt sheets with the expected answers laid out and then the supplementaries they use. So if it's not going in one of the production team's proscribed directions, the interviewer has to try and get it back on track.

he's like a whiny preacher who is just bothered about power and not ideology.

​@@davedogge2280 If you don't know when to compromise and when to push for your ideals you won't end up with the power to apply them. Blair ended up drastically over compromising (to put it mildly) and Corbyn ended up drastically under compromising. Blair may be many things, but at least he's pragmatic enough to realise the gap between where Labour and the electorate are in terms of ideology.

@@davedogge2280 : to some people the ideological struggle might seem purer in opposition, he might say. It's certainly just turned out nice for them.

Brexit is anti-democratic and anti-European and anti-liberal.

Hardly. He didn't want a general election to resolve Brexit. He wanted a referendum exclusive to the matter of Brexit.

@@sebastianeastment4553 I am sure he did. Those funny EU guys always want another referendum if the first one doesn't go their way. Doesn't make him much of a democrat.

@@fleetstreet11 How brexit is anti-allofthat?

@@batner I think the Brexit referendum highlighted how silly it was to put the issue to to a straight in-out referendum. The issue was that "OUT" meant different things to different people. Many people who wanted to leave for instance probably wanted to remain in the Customs Union, while others would've wanted a hard Brexit - neither has got what they wanted. It's also become abundantly clear that a good chunk of the arguments Brexiteers employed during the referendum campaign have been proven entirely false, so there's a good case to host another referendum based on more accurate information available to the voters. Nevertheless, Labour stupidly allowed for the general election and thus Boris Johnson has won a democratic mandate to pass his Brexit deal. Coming from an international perspective I think that's a huge mistake for the UK and/or a rather destructive action globally, but it's what the English have voted for.

ROBERT POLATAJKO 30 Jun 2019 7:36PM Labour are liars. No one should vote Labour because of it's appalling record from 1997 to 2010. Now Corbyn is descending into outright Marxism. Here is the Labour legacy - Iraq and Afghanistan - Rotherham grooming and abuse scandal, Mid Staffs NHS scandal, Birmingham schools Islamic fundamentalism Trojan horse. - Continued anti Semitism and support for terrorists. - Increased political correctness, particularly in the education system to brainwash children. - Policy run by the Unions - Started HS2, stuffed us with NHS PFI - Sowed the seeds of the destruction of the Union with lopsided devolution, ignoring England. - Destroyed the final salary pension system - Gave away our EU rebate - Sucked up to the bankers creating horrendous consequences for britain in the global recession taking a generation to fix - Gave away sovereignty through Lisbon and the Human Rights Act - Abused state finances with 0.7% overseas aid pledge - Halved manufacturing from 22% to 11% of gdp - Abolished Primary Purpose Rule and allowed immediate A8 accession allowing 7 million immigrants into Britain 1997 to 2010 in a deliberate attempt to build its voting base. - Sucked up to crony public sector Unions by inflating pay and pensions of an unreformed public sector - Did nothing to invest in our infrastructure. - Imposed postal voting extension open to political corruption. - Spent so much money on Labour cronies that we had a 5% structural deficit at the height of the boom. - Impoverished millions with the Climate Change Act of alternative energy zealotry. - Created the conditions in which thousands died unnecessarily in the NHS - Created the catastrophe of multicultural extremism. - Allowed failed asylum seekers and illegal immigrants to stay in Britain. - Sent our military to wars under equipped - Failed to secure our borders. - Sold off our gold at rock bottom prices - Created hundreds of quangoes to carry out Labour ideology and stuffed them with socialist placemen. - Created welfare as a lifestyle, with the totally dysfunctional tax credit system, and the catastrophe of excessive housing benefit I am sure there is much more incompetence, self interest and cronyism but who would vote for Labour Based on that record ? And then there's all the orchestrated lies and accusations of paedophilia and murder spread by Tom Watson against innocent men. Watson (knowing Carl Beech as he undoubtedly did) knew it was lies. And yet Labour hierarchy and grandees like Harriet Harman and her husband Jack Dromey actively supported, and advocated for known paedophiles in the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE). Labour and its socialist following are utterly disgusting.

I think it was Julius Caesar and William The Conqueror actually. Oh... and the Vikings, and the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.

@@mit6635 I don't know how you look at mass immigration and see it as a positive, as constructive. Especially with the state of the NHS

@MrQuidestveritas tell that to Rotherham

@MrQuidestveritas They're all certainly factors, but there is no getting away from the fact that drastically increasing the population puts pressure on society at all levels.

wow so funny

Not as funny as Victoria Derbyshire's version of Jeremy Hunt! 🤣🤣🤣

Lol

john m well said

Jeremy Corbyn had less charisma than a stale baguette.

Absolutely

Which he was...and Corbyn will never beat Boris Johnson

​@@davidraley3054Corbyn's a odious, divisive, and deeply unpleasant man

He's a war criminal and should be on trial in The Hague for the war in Iraq.

GroomsdayBook.com Goes to show how detached you are. No Brit in their right mind would vote him. All he is known for is the Iraq war and mass immigration.

GroomsdayBook.com Wow! Seriously? He's probably the most hated man in Britain. I'm guessing you're not old enough to remember his Government?

GroomsdayBook.com Bliar is utterly discredited.

GroomsdayBook.com Great sarcasm 😂🤣

@historypoliticsbb Anyone that looks after their own people and Corbyn is only interested in anyone that is not native English. None of them are but Corbyn is an active racist.

@historypoliticsbb Every molecule in my body tells me not to vote Labour and I have been about long enough to know why. Conservatives give most of my money to their mates and Labour would give the lot to every lost cause so long as it ain't English.

@historypoliticsbb Take your pick all obsolete. You could put some money into the English Democrats and pray.

what hes saying is totally correct (for a change)... thankfully it doesn`t matter anymore and he and corbyn are now totally irrelevant

He’s 100% right on this! Regardless of what you think of him post Iraq, the man won 3 elections (including post Iraq) - he’s a master political strategist. He knows what does or doesn’t win elections.

@@JoelWende Maybe he's just another political psychopath who doesn't mind what damage he does along the way.

@@None-zc5vg That may or may not be true. None of that stops him being correct in what he's saying here!

And

Great. He is centre left.

@wildebest that's the most Tory comment ever.

@wildebest 1. Tony Blair's hair is parted left of centre. 2. The Chief Rabbi proscribed the Labour Party as being anti-Semitic. That is fact that we are proscribed, and we can't do anything about it.

@wildebest tl;dr

Centre-left. But yes, otherwise I agree, and cheers for teaching me a new word.

@@dreamer2260 THANKS

Socialists must go to the right politically they have abandoned the working class for Wokism and globalism.

Yep.

Professional multi-millionaire liar.

@@thedukeofswellington1827 yes, but one who also kills thousands of innocent people.

@@user-pk4sd9dd2w yawnnnnnn

Matthew Hendy RIP Dr David Kelly.

@Andrew Battersby see, what you guys haven't been told in the UK is that there's EU elections taking place every few years. You elected fucking FARAGE to the EU Parliament instead of sensible politicians who would push for policies to benefit your country

Because it was not on the agenda, only the Conservative party agenda. DC never thought he would lose, that’s why he resigned. Coward.

@@laurencelong In 1973 I voted for a TRADE Agreement ONLY with 6 AFFluent Countrues. NOT to be part of some bureaucratic European Project...

@@laurencelong Time will tell Laurence....:)

Hey it's Newsnight - what were you expecting?!😂

I think they mean he was the Last Labour prime minister to win an election

Why? Voter's got to kill two birds with one stone

In a single word, yes ... I am -- sadly -- old enough to remember both Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock, and the battles they had with the 'looney left', as personified, in particular, by Derek Hatton. The result was the 1987 GE, which, effectively, locked Labour out for the next decade, despite even the best efforts of John Smith, arguably the Labour Party's best leader since Clement Attlee. Had he not tragically died in 1994, from a massive heart attack, there was a chance he may have been PM in 1997 ... But to return to the original question, it looks like the latter day version of the 'Militant Tendency' has taken over almost the entire Labour Party. Those MPs, on the right of the party, were, and still are, dismissed as 'traitors' of, and to, Jeremy Corbyn, despite their repeated warnings that he was a severe liability, not least due to him calling Hamas and Hezbollah as 'friends'; those of a certain age, recalling Gerald Kaufmann's infamous 'longest suicide note in history' probably felt the same, again, about the last party manifesto. So no doubt many in the PLP expected to lose. But not by as much; what has been oh so neatly brushed under the rug is that a longstanding MP, whom had held his seat for 49 years, and would have been named Father of the House, by dint of being the longest serving MP, lost his seat by a considerable majority. Ousting a MP who has represented his constituency for 49 straight nears was no easy thing, and a utter shock to me. But, now the dust has settled, it was symptomatic of the utter distrust that even traditional, working class (read: Labour voting) constituencies had for the current leadership. And as loathed as I am to say this, the only way Labour will ever win another election, is if another moderate, like either a John Smith, or, -- gag -- Tony Blair is elected Leader. In this, Tony Blair is, regrettably, correct: if Momentum/Far Left, stays in charge of the Labour Party, although people will still vote for them, the share of that the Party current has, will mostly likely crash, given enough time. I doubt it will drop as low as where the Lib Dems current are, at about 11-12%, but who knows ... since no one saw Dennis Skinner losing his seat, all bets are off ...

Don’t be sad! So am I - old enough to remember what you remember that is. It seems the Labour Party we knew is no more and perhaps that is because the needs/aspirations of the majority of working people have changed. In fact the current Labour Party seem intent on fighting a 1950s style class war, which is daft given the standard if living that most working people have now. Income inequality becomes less of a problem when people feel deprived if they don’t own an iPhone. Which of course is not to say that poverty does not exist, only that real not relative poverty is small and a political movement will not gain enough momentum (sorry) if it relies on votes from such a small percentage of society. I understand that it is tempting to hanker after times when societies problems seemed simpler - the wicked bosses and the downtrodden workers represented by the forthright and honest trades unions, who actually were not and are not so forthright and honest ( Do you remember the film ‘I’m All Right Jack’ staring Peter Sellers?) Anyway my point is that we need an opposition, a relevant opposition that represents the interests of working people. The trick will be to identify and articulate exactly what those interests are or at least provides a more socially cohesive vision of how our society could be run. Without a massive blunder by the Tories I see little chance of a Labour Govt for at least 10 years which gives plenty of time for policy development and good people to rise through the ranks replacing the ‘absolute shower’ (Terry Thomas quote from ‘I’m All Right Jack’) that are in place now. You will have notice that I have not suggested any role for Tony Blair. Personally, I think he made good and bad decisions as PM, was deceived by G W Bush, felt he couldn’t admit to error and then sold out to globalist interests. He is just not likeable, is absolutely toxic to many voters and would be the kiss of death to Labour.

And the fact both those monsters are talked about positively shows why the Labour party is doomed to eradication. They are unfit for purpose and will probably die. Most people in Britain know Tony Blair is a monster and Corbyn is a communist.

Your comment is dated Flash forward 8 months and the Corbynist faction in the party has been muted, the Shadow front bench is mostly left of centre and Labour is ahead in the polls Would you like to review it?

@@jonnobloggs1139 No , not yet . The polls are meaningless at this point in time , the real poll, the next GE is far away . I see Sir Keith is trying to reposition Labour as a patriotic party , good move and not before time , but he is getting resistance from even his shadow cabinet . Pity he can’t bring himself to state a medical fact ,that only women have a cervix , in order not to upset the Trans community and the lefties . This nonsense will never pass the pub test . Patriotism, policies that appeal to the aspirational working class and straightforward and honest communication with the people is what is needed to have a chance of getting into power again - even with the incompetence of the present Tory leadership .

Keir already has a cunning plan for your problem. At the weekend he will call himself Rebecca Long Starmer!!!

Do you realise the irony of your comment?

Are you a clai?revoyant

I’m not impressed with her at all, seen a few flaky interviews lately

@wildebestagree all GOTCHA bs they use

@@curiositypiqued6573 He needs got, he's a prize tosser.

@@scottw3780 Bollocks. Every question she asks is worthy. Maybe too uncomfortable for your leftist sensibilities. Tough.

@MetaPat She's anything but "over the place". What an idiotic comment to make.

He bombed innocent kids for years

What committing war crimes and become stupidly wealthy. Wake up son

@@muglypunt968 you feel the same about cameron drone striking Syria?

@@muglypunt968 👍

@@tommyhoul1han just because they are in different parties doesn't mean they aren't on same team. Only the plebs pick teams, it's why we are in a cycle of picking pathetic leaders.... Sheeple, sheeple everywhere

Like CNN here in the states worthless and liars

Seems centre left these days is viewed as being to the right of thatcher.

@@jgmediting7770 Yikes. So what does that make Johnson and the current Tory mob?!

Mr Red - given far right parties are backing Johnson and telling their members to join the Tory party, and old tories like major and others were telling people not to vote Tory, take a guess. Though ultimately, the tories are what they’ve always been, the party whose core objective is looking after the interests of the rich elite at everyone else’s expense, and they’ll move wherever they need to be to get enough votes to achieve power so they can carry out that objective. Achieving power and carrying out that objective is their only guiding principle. The fact the business propaganda system has moved the Overton window a long way to the right over the past 40 years explains why the so called centre ground has moved right of thatcher and the old centre left is now described as far left. The 50s/60s Tory government’s would be described as left wing today, and would have been attacked constantly if up against Johnson’s party in this election. That’s how far right the general public have been manipulated by decades of business propaganda. Labour’s policies were centre left at this election. Middle of the road social democratic, like numerous other European countries.

JGM Editing Wow. Congrats on totally misreading the general political landscape. 🙄

JGM Editing you talk rubbish,torys support business,which are the wealth creators,labour want to destroy capitalism and make everyone poor .

Yep. People of his talent come very rarely, especially on the left, sadly. We desperately need someone else of his calibre again, but I don't see anyone rising through the ranks.

true; but he's right on this and you know it; painful!

Which of the Geneva convention (the complete set of war crimes) are you referring to when you label him a war criminal? Where I get hazy is the UN resolution saying Hussein needed to be removed if he continued to eject inspectors. So, the whole war criminal thing, that’s codshit isn’t it?

Look he was wrong on the war as Bush was but Tony Blair is right the Labour Party they went too far left as some in the Democrat Party have here in the US.The far left promise way too much with no way too pay for it like free college for all I don't want too pay for someone too go to college and fuckoff and get drunk they flunk out,then have the far right loons who want too force their religion on everyone and want to cut Medicare and Medicaid and food stamps the poor depend on.

Ian... are you stoned? Are you that full of bitter, twisted vitriol about removing an actual dictator who murdered tens of thousands with poison gas that you would have the state reinstate capital punishment to execute blair? I am deeply morbidly curious as to your logic. Please enthral us with your thoughts as to why it would be justified.

@@memphismemphis462 in my country there is free college ...and thank god becuse i have no money ...

Bran the Broker he’s not in government or parliament. How did he do any locking?

I’m very excited to hear how he managed to do that having been out of government for the last 14 years?

@@robertglennon694 Perhaps you should have read the replies first before responding to this comment.

@@robertglennon694 The "country locked in a box" quote was in reference to the radical EU institutions/reforms he tied us into.

I think that's why most of the politicians don't want to leave the EU. They know that when the UK voters get sick of them they will find a nice, cosy sinecure there, with a fat salary, private jet and a pension. The EU was OK when it was just a free trade association. It went wrong when it became a political alliance as well. There are too many different national identities for it to work. I suspect that once we go others will follow.

@@mscott3918 once you go we'll laugh and laugh looking at your country breaking down to pieces and the people angrily asking to be let back in 😉

@Andrew Battersby except you're not even going to keep what comes before that deficit if Boris gets his loved hard brexit. See you're running a deficit in trade but 45% of your export (291bn) is going to be lost. Good fucking luck

@Qwfwq66 Not just but LOT & LOTS think like that......Hungary, Poland, Italy, Spain, along with US anti EU trade tariffs as well as Brexit.....keep up.

@Qwfwq66 Thanks Cpt Obvious that is what he posted. There is no fooling you!

A wolf is an undomesticated dog.

Qwfwq66 It’s American prison slang.

Oh I like that saying

Because he's pro brexit.

@@helicongremory8480 Nah nah. Blair wanted us to stay in the EU. That means he was anti Brexit, not pro.

Err why does he need to? He already achieved more than Corbyn has or ever will. He won 2 elections. He was a Labour Prime Minister. He's not a politician anymore. He's not looking for re-election. But I'm willing to bet if Blair went back to Labour, they'd have a much better chance of winning...and they probably would. Corbyn and his band of Momentum merry people hate Blair. And not just because he won elections obviously. Put it this way. I'd vote for Blair over Corbyn anyday - even after Iraq.

In other words, don’t put up a candidate with a 25% Approval rating... charisma matters.

“centrist manifesto” LOL. You’re a dumbass if you think that is what wins. Maybe centrist on cultural issues but not economics. Boris went left-wing.

Yes, the charismatic leaders always deliver don't they?

@@blackout07blue Boris is not left wing lmao

Absolutely right, and the Corbyn line after the election, “we won the argument” sums it all up really

Bloody well said. I'd vote for him in an instant. Sadly it's extremely unlikely. But yes he's always interesting to listen to.

Devolution was a very bad mistake for this country and also so many going to University and indoctrinated. The Labour are not for working class anymore

Mike Hargreaves he has been direct, intelligent and thoughtful his entire career. Simply, now people can see past “war criminal” this “should be tried” that and actually listen to what this man has to say. He has always spoken sense, he’s an incredibly gifted and pragmatic politician and had to make decisions we couldn’t make as he was leading the whole country. It’s really beyond me why people reject Blairism (if that’s a word) and him as a prime minister - this country was fantastic when he was in power. Hopefully labour supporters will at least consider labour moving towards the centre again on certain policies.

@@ryanfreda9671 I think it was a case of live and die by the sword... Labour would have unlikely gained power without the support of the likes of Murdoch, however when the UK press turned against him, the public displayed how fickle they can be. It never ceases to amaze me how the public blames the Iraq war more on Blair than Bush, yet the Americans were responsible for nearly all the 'heavy lifting'. The danger of the persecution of Blair over Iraq means subsequent politicians will always avoid conflict even when the implications of taking no action are worse. Society's current nature of cynicism rather than scepticism worries me...

Mike Hargreaves couldn’t agree more

@@ryanfreda9671 Absolutely spot on.

Robin Cook died of a heart attack on a Scottish mountain. If you knew him, that would not have surprised you. Don’t spread stupid conspiracy theories

Conjecture. No proof.

@@steffanhoffmann8937 kelly death was a little odd,

@@sisiphas and kellys?

He was most likely murdered.

What do you think hacking hereditary peerage out of the Lords was about ? Straight out of the marxist playbook. We should put hereditary peerage back into the House of Lords. What he did was not a proper reform.

We remember what Bliar did; put us into "the war on terror" with Boy Bush, a war which we have no hope of winning and so many lives lost. SHAM SHAME SHAME

@@johnmac1960 But that failure doesn't mean what he's saying about what's needed for a Labour resurgence has no relevance. Blair's political career is over, largely because of Iraq. But his political analysis here is eminently sensible and ought to be followed. If it isn't, adios Labour.

That's all the Left ever does. It's a one-trick pony. 'Gimme your money and we'll spend it.'

@@johnmac1960 Amazing how few lives lost actually.

Rod Fleming You’re a funny man! If it were left to the right, we’d still be sending children down coal mines, there’d be no minimum wage and no paid holidays by law. It was the left who fought for the minimum labour and living standards we have today and the Right fought those things tooth and nail.

Let's hope an ENP doesn't replace them in England.

@@stunninglad1 well the SNP is basically all about the idea that the English are bad people who are holding Scots hostage and ruling over them. A throwback to hundreds of years ago which is why some are antagonistic towards England. Its evident in films like Trainspotting and the rant about being Scottish. Without that kind of historical grudge I dont think you would get an ENP.

The media and politicians act like there’s no long game and everything is an instantaneous reaction.

@@harryh3203 Yes, an ENP doesn't bear thinking about. The SNP are delusional about their Independence agenda. It wouldn't work. Brexit has been hard enough to organize without the impossible task of having to split up the UK, too. That would be a nightmare and must be avoided at all costs.

@@stunninglad1 Why?

Orson Kaart the reasons arent too far apart

Yep. The decline in leadership quality since his day is so depressing. Went off a cliff really. Though in fairness Blair always was a remarkable political talent, and something of an outlier himself.

​@@dreamer2260Apart from Clown Corbyn, and a few of his closest goons & Momentum, they're no where near as bad as the Tories.

@@user-sf7kl9uh7k Oh I totally agree on that don’t get me wrong. I think Labour’s long stretch now out of power also hasn’t offered huge incentives for talent to get involved with the party. Hopefully that will change now with our prospects looking up.

@@dreamer2260 Yup, just got to keep those sneaky self serving 'socialists' at bay. They're actually nothing of the sort, and are deeply unpleasant and divisive people.

Oh get real! Iraq may not have been his finest hour but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water! This is a man who won three elections in a row and was the last Lab leader actually to win a general election .... He presided over a moderate, progressive, social democratic government that wasn't infused with the hatred of patriotism, anti-semitism and jaw-dropping economic illiteracy that was Corbyn's toxic prescription. Come back Blair....your country needs you!

seerjc123 he accelerated the selling off of the NHS and put it into debt. He's vile. Jeremy is not anti Semitic not matter how hard you try to will him to be. 🤦🏻‍♀️ what a bunch of gullible subjects. And his manifesto is being revered around the world as exemplary. Keep reading the Sun 😂

May be because he won 3 general elections 🤔.

The 'illegal war' was not purely Blair's fault, Blair only decided to intervene in middle Eastern affairs over the false information he and bush received, this was his only downfall trusting information that was not true in the hopes of protecting world affairs. In reality he changed Britain's view of the left with him arguably swinging right and reformed the Labour party from neoliberal Thatcherism. If you want to dwell on a war started by false information and the need of protection for the British people, then your not ept for politics.

@@marcibelle4462 Jeremy is a member of the tribe, they're just reading from a script handed to them by the bankers, they know the vast majority of people dont want a communist world government and hate Labour for sh1tting on the working class in favour of MASS immigration and social "justice" AKA cu1tura1 marx1sm. We're supposed to believe that the reason for all this hate is that Labour "pretend" to criticise the supremacist religion of the bankers. They're just trying to stem the growing awareness amongst the overwhelmingly nationalist populace, that the religion of the bankers is behind all of our woes whether we consider ourselves left or right ! it goes something like You hate Corbyn right, well he hates )ews so that means us )ews are on your side, and you should make "antisemitism" your number one weapon against him, the wellbeing of the self proclaimed "ch0sen people" is more important than EVERYTHING else ! Only it hasn't worked because the vast majority couldn't give two sh1ts about the bankers being criticised, they're more concerned with fulfilling Brexit and stopping mass immigration !

Ernie Hudson he has no right he has sent people to the grave

@@drunkinclam100 sending people to the grave is another subject

I seem to remember that Phillips has some somewhat conservative views about white van man

I can't stand the woman, but in all honesty, she might be the best of a bad bunch. I would prefer Lisa Nandy.

Theres a video on youtube with her and Jacob RM in Somerset exchanging dialogue. What comes out of that womens mouth is disgusting. She said that she accepts Jeremy Corbyn as her leader even though he's a WHITE MAN!! And then she goes on to say "As a feminist... if it's declared that two men have won the leadership and deputy leadership, whether they're great, whether they're brilliant, I will feel that the Labour Party is less for me." Where does such thinking come from??... it's so far from the typical brit in the UK. I'm an iraqi born man who came to the UK in 1999 and love this country. I cant believe English people dont retaliate enough to such nonsense. Even Jacob RM didn't criticise her for such awful prejudice thinking. Good look to the labour party with such radical left wih ideology. I prefer to go conservative.

@@Treckorz I've seen that!!

Keir Starmer seems the most competent, he just doesn't have much charisma

Well said. Couldn't agree more.

Blair is a traitor to the working class, and the Labour party are also.

Any idea Blair has is to benefit him and him alone. If anyone else benefits from it, then that is a bonus for the person concerned.

lewisner and that’s not wrong

Falco 666 hope brexit makes all your wildest dreams come true.

T B88 Ha,Ha, 😂

T B88 you fucking idiots just don’t get it. Brexiteers voted to leave the EU because they didn’t want to to be a part of it. We don’t care if we are worse off or not. It is a price worth paying in our opinion. That’s what you guys failed to grasp when you were trying to get us to change our minds

Absolutely, he said new deal vs remain referendum when that is what Corbyn ran on and lost. Completely delusional.

​​@@Milkyspongeorbyn lost for being completely unsuited. He's a clown in old man's clothes.

She's a horrible interviewer.

Brown wasn't elected he just became Labour leader when Blair resigned so he just finished Blairs 'term' but then lost the election - he is similar to President Ford in that he had the job but wasn't elected

He was the last Labour leader to win a general election. And the only one to do so since 1974 in fact

Yes, it should really say Labour's last elected prime minister.

You must be truly deluded!

@@meltodd5634 Not deluded. .true.. Thats one of the many reasons Labour just got a kicking.

@@karlos543 Did you not get the memo?.. Tories in power for the last 10 years?

@@mrmyloc Labour left this country broke. .I got that memo! "There is no more money" remember? We've spent the last ten years trying to pay that showers debt. Suppose you voted for them for free Internet 😅

@Karlos You’ve done exactly what the Tories and their fat cat friends told you to do.

Are you still enjoying yourself?

@@TomJohnson67 Very much so! What about you?

Nasty little sod.

The Labour leadership should hang their heads in shame for delivering a Tory Government

@Christopher Poole Like the devil, truth with lies.

@Christopher Poole A WAR CRIMINAL giving advices