This was a story which entirely passed me by, but throws up a couple of intriguing questions. I tip my hat to the Independent’s John Rentoul for highlighting Tony Blair’s address to the Institute for Government entitled, How to Be Prime Minister, held at the end of June. In it Mr Blair commented,
The British people have again elected a centrist government, and that’s what they decided to do in that extraordinary way they do, they decide they will put in the Conservatives and put the Lib Dems alongside them.
As Mr Rentoul notes,
… this rather goes against the attempt by many in the Labour Party to present the coalition as a right-wing Thatcherite government with soft Lib-Dem cover.
It prompts me, though, to ask two simple questions:
1) Does Tony Blair support the Coalition Government? After all, he was tempted himself to extend the Big Tent to include the Lib Dems in 1997, before ducking the decision on the curious grounds he found himself to be too powerful. And nor is he a left-wing tribalist – Mr Blair even dropped a strong hint in 2008 that he preferred Senator McCain as President to Senator Obama, because of the former’s (then) unabashed pro-immigration free-marketeering. So would supporting a centrist coalition be much of a problem for him?
2) How would Lib Dem members feel if Tony Blair did support the Coalition? Many will say (rightly) that Mr Blair is yeterday’s man, that what he thinks cannot possibly matter. And yet … though sme would undoubtedly feel queasy at the very idea that the man responsible for the single worst British policy decision in post-war history might be a coalition sympathiser, others will point to his undoubted sixth sense in finding Middle England’s g-spot and draw some comfort.
Feel free to speculate away your own hypothesis below …
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14 Comments
hell, forget the cuts, this is really gonna give the coalition a bad name. Let me follow the lead of some of our MP’s and write a headline for the tabloids: “the Lib Dems have decided to no longer exist as of monday week”.
I think in Blair’s narrow populist mind he just sees a coalition whose arithmetic covers much of the C1/C2 groups (and Sky-Man), rather than any consideration of what a Liberal infused Tory government might do and its radical undoing of so much of his centralisation, as well as having to wield cuts compared to his time of seemingly endless economic growth. I never thought he understood what liberal meant.
I wish Rentoul would just out with it and declare his undying love for Tony Blair. Blair calling this government centrist is mere evidence of how skewed his own political compass is, and what kind of things he would have wanted to do. It’s an open secret that Blair and Mandelson wanted the Lib Dems to join them in 1997 in order to do the very same things as this government- with an eventual Lab-Lib merger down the line.
This almost made me laugh- “And nor is he a left-wing tribalist”
You think?!?
I have found after being compelled to study Tony Blair over the last few years – compelled because it was clear that if so many hated him he must have been doing something right – that I tend to agree with him on most issues, including Iraq, btw. But I do not agree with ALL of this statement – “The British people have again elected a centrist government, and that’s what they decided to do in that extraordinary way they do, they decide they will put in the Conservatives and put the Lib Dems alongside them.”
There are two parts to this statement. Firstly part one:
I can see where Mr Blair is coming from with the idea that this is a “centrist” government. Cameron was/is Blairite and the Lib Dems (Iraq apart) got much of what they ever wanted from Blair’s government. So this statement helps Blair’s own case which I suspect is that Brown’s government was too far Left to be electable.
But, part two, and where I disagree with Labour’s WINNER – the British people did NOT “elect” the centrist or whatever sort of “ist” government we presently have. The Con/Lib coalition was just what they GOT (after much behind-the-scenes wrangling and soul-searching), like it or not. It seems that now many don’t like it.
On a point of information, it is NOT true, Mr Tall, that “…he was tempted himself to extend the Big Tent to include the Lib Dems in 1997, before ducking the decision on the curious grounds he found himself to be too powerful.”
He was MORE than tempted. Even AFTER the 1997 election. He had been in secret meetings with Ashdown towards a coalition or even anti-Tory merger for years, reportedly 1994 – 1997, even AFTER his first landslide. Those who put a stop to this were Brown and Prescott. Accuse Blair of all sorts of things, as LDs do by instinct, but he was NOT dictatorial on this matter.
Read Ashdown’s Diary and Campbell’s Dairies on this. Being “diaries” they may just be more believable than the memories of others.
http://keeptonyblairforpm.wordpress.com/ashdown-blair-the-great-coalitionmerger-plan/
As for whether or not he presently approves, well, maybe. Then again, maybe not. It all depends. That’s the thing about being a visionary politician, but no longer being in a position of power. We might know a little more as the present “vision” materialises more clearly AND as Labour decides on its next leader. Events, dear boy.
Tony Blair may call it “centrism”, but what he believes, and also David Cameron and I fear Nick Clegg as well is free market fundamentalism.
Withdraw the state and expect the private sector to rescue the British economy. Yet this presupposes the British private sector is competitive. There is little sign of that at a time when interest rates are low and the value of the pound should be helping our exporters.
If this is true, it is one more pressing reason to exit the “coalition” at the earliest appropriate opportunity.
Yes, Stephen, why did you find it necessary to make that comment to a presumably relatively sophisticated audience??! Surely, right wingism is the normal accusation against TB (Tory Blair or Bliar).
We know what Blair’s approach to government was like: say anything to get the media on your side. I can’t really attribute any motive to this beyond his wanting to get paid for a lot more speaking engagements.
We know what Blair’s approach to government was like: say anything to get the media on your side.
Hhhmmm- sounds exactly like Nick and Dave: this mornings milk snatching U-turn beng just the latest example i.e. this mornings…
Forgive my curiosity, but; “After all, he was tempted himself to extend the Big Tent to include the Lib Dems in 1997, before ducking the decision on the curious grounds he found himself to be too powerful.”
In what possible manner could Blair’s decision not to big-tent his government be deemed “curious” on the grounds that he was too powerful?
In what parallel universe does having a large and authoritative electoral mandate become liability to the point where it is better to water down ones manifesto commitments?
Really, I’m curious………….
@ Sesenco
Hear! Hear! Blair was always a blue Tory. He must be delighted to see the Blue and Orange Tories arm in arm.
I don’t think you are curious Jedi… I think you are trying to stir it up!!
No truly, I am curious.
I am not a lib-dem by affiliation, but I am more than happy to see the lib-dems become a real force in politics again.
so i am keen to see the lib-dems as effective as possible, and that doesn’t include wistful assumptions about british politics that don’t exist in the real world.
Why was it a curious decision?
this being a case in point about what real liberalism should be about:
http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-getting-rid-of-contactpoint-a-great-day-for-liberalism-20619.html
in my biased opinion.
it is a right wing thatcherite government. tony blair who himself hates the labour party is a centre right politician. cameron,clegg,blair are the same politically. clegg and the orange bookers are centre right.