Bring back Blair!
Posted on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 9:26pm
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I was listening to the radio in between meetings today. At one stage I actually pinched myself to see if I was actually still in 2010 when I heard Tony Blair’s voice telling me how great the Labour party is, and how one cannot compare Labour’s rise in 1997 to the Cameron agenda now.
Who decided it would be a good idea to wheel Tony Blair out on the campaign trail? As far as I am concerned he can only do them damage, so thank you Labour!
At the moment, I would agree that you can’t really compare Labour under Tony Blair to Cameron’s Conservatives. Cameron hasn’t yet had the mandate to enter an illegal war in Iraq, to stir up trouble in the Middle East, or introduce the market in to Higher Education. That’s not to say that he won’t continue those policies initiated by New Labour. Why would he choose not to, when their policies are so close to his own? After all, wasn’t that the raison d’etre of ‘New’ Labour, to try to appeal to the very voters who would usually vote Conservative? Of course it was. Hence the emphasis on the individual, on the presidential style of politics, on the development of the City ( and look where that got us folks!)
The Financial Times had this today to say about Tony Blair’s appearance on the campaign trail -‘Likewise Mr Blair’s appearance on the political frontline nearly three years after Mr Brown’s allies effectively forced him out of office speaks volumes about the party’s clannish loyalty when under pressure’. Everybody knows that Brown and Blair do not see eye to eye. Surely the electorate can see through this superficial stunt? The Sun newspaper states that Blair has been ‘unleashed’ ahead of the polls. So if he is THAT good an operator, why was he ever pushed to one side in the first place? Sky News is reporting that putting Blair up for interviews is ‘the lesser of two evils’. If he wasn’t there, people would only make it an issue, they claim.
The one thing I do agree with Blair ( first for everything) is that the Tories won’t offer change, and to use it as a slogan is laughable. For a party that was in power for so long before New Labour (who failed to offer positive change then) I am unconvinced that they could do so in Government this time around.
A new, smily and shiny leader won’t do it. Their economic policies are weak, their policies full stop are light on detail. I sincerely hope that Plaid win more MPs in this election, and that we can be a strong force on a Westminster level, as we have been with our three current MPs over the years- with Adam Price’s work in the Tony Blair impeachement campaign for example, and Hywel Williams’s work on child poverty under Elfyn Llwyd’s leadership. This is our opportunity to show how we are relevant, that we can offer alternative, Wales centred policies.
