Political Observer comments.

Headline: Tony Blair gazes into a mirror and finds Keir Starmer seeking approval

Sub-headline: Is Labour leader finally prepared to declare the party’s most successful prime minister is the model to follow, asks John Rentoul?

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-starmer-tony-blair-conference-b2377485.html

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Some commentators thought it was unwise of Starmer to adopt so many of the Blair mannerisms in his Observer article at the weekend. His riposte has been to copy Blair’s mannerisms in person and tell his critics that it is worse than they thought … he actually believes in this stuff.

After all, Starmer has been on what the Master might call ‘a journey’ over the past three years, in which he has had to be Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair rolled into one.

Blair doubters will shake their heads, complaining that the prime minister from different times long ago is now “toxic,” and that Starmer should strike out boldly as his own person. But Starmer’s appearance on Blair’s stage was his answer to that.

Starmer recognises that Blair has transformed his reputation in recent years; that his institute is the source of some of the best ideas for government and opposition. Not only is Blair the glue that holds the centre of British politics together, after a long spell in the wilderness, but for many voters, his endorsement conveys a simple message: Keir Starmer is the mirror image of the most successful Labour prime minister. You may safely vote for him.

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Excerpts from a review of ‘In Heroes or Villains?’

Headline: In Heroes or Villains? The Blair Government Reconsidered, Jon Davis and John Rentoul seek to counter the negative prevailing view of Tony Blair and the New Labour government, focusing on key areas of criticism.

The legacy of the Tony Blair government continues to be the topic of some debate, as shown by the former Prime Minister’s recent defence of his record following a sustained attack from the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting wing of the Labour Party. This makes Jon Davis and John Rentoul’s new book on the Blair era, Heroes or Villains? The Blair Government Reconsidered, all the more pertinent. The authors believe that the ‘prevailing view of Blair and New Labour is too negative’ and that this book should ‘provide a counterweight, so that the independent-minded reader is better placed to reach a considered view’ (312).

Heroes or Villains? takes an innovative approach to its subject, having developed out of a number of university courses taught by Davis and Rentoul at Queen Mary, University of London, and King’s College London. One of the strengths of the book is that many of the key protagonists—including Blair himself—spoke to the classes and provide at times fascinating detail.

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Mrs. Thatcher might have amended her statement about Tony Blair, being her greatest accomplishment? With praise for Jon Davis and John Rantoul as the newest apologists for Blair in 2019, and into the political present ?

The ‘Cult of Blair’ is about the erasure of Jeremy Corbyn, as practiced by an utterly corrupt British Corporate Media, and it’s hirelings.

Political Observer