Opinions on Tony Blair's Speech today: Antisemitism, Brexit, Corbynism & Thatcherism

I'm gonna grab me some popcorn, this should be fun 🤣🤣🤣

What's your favourite flavour?

Definitely salty 😂

Please no personal abuse of either Tony Blair or Jeremy Corbyn.
Let's remain civil in all discussions of each Labour leader's leadership, politics and place in UK history.
Aggression and insulting behaviour between TSR members only adds to the mods workload.

Yeah... good luck with that.

Don’t agree with everything he said, as I think there were some good elements to the manifesto, but I see where he’s coming from. The Corbynite faction is simply unwilling to see that, in order to affect change, it must first win power, which inevitably requires compromise. However, I also think that going back to the ‘good old days’ of New Labour isn’t a solution either. Ideally, the moderates and leftists could put aside their distaste for each other and find an ideological middle ground somewhere between Corbyn and Blair.

Whatever happens next, the Labour Party has to be united, and it has to be absolutely focused on winning power. Hopefully, it will be led by someone with the skills, if not the political convictions of, people like Tony Blair. I disagree with many of his political views and think his desire to be a player on the world stage hurt both himself and his party, but he is charismatic, likeable, good at handling the media, and realistic about the necessity of compromise in order to win power.

TL;DR he was right to say Labour should be more realistic. I hope the party settles on a candidate ideologically halfway between him and Corbyn, and that any new Leader has his charisma and political skill.

I agree with many of your points.
I think the Labour Party is currently experiencing a similar electoral tour of the wilderness to that experienced by the Conservatives during the leaderships of Hague, Duncan Smith and Howard.

Makes a lot of sense.

Whatever his faults in certain policy areas, he ran a credible, decent Labour party. The fact that 'Blairite' is now used as an insult by a sizeable portion of Labour activists is probably the finest example of what a state the party is in today.

Makes a lot of sense.

Whatever his faults in certain policy areas, he ran a credible, decent Labour party. The fact that 'Blairite' is now used as an insult by a sizeable portion of Labour activists is probably the finest example of what a state the party is in today.

Or like during Thatcher's years, with Michael Foot as Labour leader.

Broadly right. It's just that people in labour and in momentum don't want to hear it from Blue Tony owing to his (as they see it) tainted legacy

Here is the full text of Tony Blair's speech:

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/12/tony-blair-s-speech-future-labour-and-progressive-politics-full-text

Below are a few memorable extracts from the speech:

"This election was no ordinary defeat for Labour. It marks a moment in history."

"It was a Brexit general election – which was why it was a cardinal error for Labour ever to agree it"

"The takeover of the Labour Party by the far left turned it into a glorified protest movement, with cult trimmings, utterly incapable of being a credible government.
The result has brought shame on us.
We let our country down. "

"I noted the cockiness of the Johnson visit to Sedgefield to rub salt in the wound!"

"Let us demolish this delusion that “the manifesto was popular”.
The sentiment behind some of the policy reflected public anxieties, but in combination, it was one hundred pages of “wish list”. Any fool can promise everything for free.
But the people weren’t fooled.
They know life isn’t like that.
And the loading in of “free broadband” run by government was the final confirmation of incredibility."

"Anti-Semitism is a stain.
The failure to deal with it, a matter of disgust that left some of us who voted Labour feeling, for the first time in our lives, conflicted about doing it."

"Labour can keep with the programme and positions of Corbyn with a new leader.
In which case it is finished.
Or it can understand that it must recapture the party from the far left, make radical changes and begin the march back."

"We cannot afford to repeat 1983, moving crab-like towards reality. You know the narrative.
Among the far left, “we won the argument” it’s just for some inexplicable reason the British people having accepted we were right, decided to vote for the other guys."

"If we go down this line, it will be 15 years more of Tory government."

"For the Labour Party the choices are stark, starker than it realises.
It is gearing up to fight an “ultra-Thatcherite” Tory party."

Opinions?

Please no personal abuse of either Tony Blair or Jeremy Corbyn.
Let's remain civil in all discussions of each Labour leader's leadership, politics and place in UK history.
Aggression and insulting behaviour between TSR members only adds to the mods workload.

here is the full text of tony blair's speech:

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/12/tony-blair-s-speech-future-labour-and-progressive-politics-full-text

below are a few memorable extracts from the speech:

"this election was no ordinary defeat for labour. It marks a moment in history."

"it was a brexit general election – which was why it was a cardinal error for labour ever to agree it"

"the takeover of the labour party by the far left turned it into a glorified protest movement, with cult trimmings, utterly incapable of being a credible government.
the result has brought shame on us.
we let our country down. "

"i noted the cockiness of the johnson visit to sedgefield to rub salt in the wound!"

"let us demolish this delusion that “the manifesto was popular”.
the sentiment behind some of the policy reflected public anxieties, but in combination, it was one hundred pages of “wish list”. Any fool can promise everything for free.
but the people weren’t fooled.
they know life isn’t like that.
and the loading in of “free broadband” run by government was the final confirmation of incredibility."

"anti-semitism is a stain.
the failure to deal with it, a matter of disgust that left some of us who voted labour feeling, for the first time in our lives, conflicted about doing it."

"labour can keep with the programme and positions of corbyn with a new leader.
in which case it is finished.
or it can understand that it must recapture the party from the far left, make radical changes and begin the march back."

"we cannot afford to repeat 1983, moving crab-like towards reality. You know the narrative.
among the far left, “we won the argument” it’s just for some inexplicable reason the british people having accepted we were right, decided to vote for the other guys."

"if we go down this line, it will be 15 years more of tory government."

"for the labour party the choices are stark, starker than it realises.
it is gearing up to fight an “ultra-thatcherite” tory party."

opinions?

Please no personal abuse of either tony blair or jeremy corbyn.
Let's remain civil in all discussions of each labour leader's leadership, politics and place in uk history.
Aggression and insulting behaviour between tsr members only adds to the mods workload.

Makes a lot of sense.

Whatever his faults in certain policy areas, he ran a credible, decent Labour party. The fact that 'Blairite' is now used as an insult by a sizeable portion of Labour activists is probably the finest example of what a state the party is in today.