Blair’s spoken about his new book to the Guardian. There’s much to despise. For example,as the Guardian notes:
Blair's outspoken remarks about the financial crisis and the aftermath of the British general election of 2010 in his book's postscript are likely to have a wide party political impact, especially his caution about any embrace of the view that "the state is back".
As Blair put it:
"The problem, I would say error, was in buying a package which combined deficit spending, heavy regulation, identifying banks as the malfeasants and jettisoning the reinvention of government in favour of the rehabilitation of government. The public understands the difference between the state being forced to intervene to stabilise the market and government back in fashion as a major actor in the economy."
And that in a nutshell summarises the sell out of New Labour.
It was neoliberal, through and through. It betrayed as a result the very core of what Labour did stand for and should stand for.
It was desperate — power at any cost. But that was wrong. Power comes with a responsibility to those who grant it — and New Labour failed in that duty.
Blair’s desperate — to hide his mistakes and the blood on his hands.
And now he’s a banker. Never forget it. As sell outs go Blair’s is complete. This is not a Labour elder statement speaking. This is a full blown member of the banking community speaking. And of course he blames government for the crisis as a result — even though he ran the government — rather than the banks.
The corruption in the thinking that this represents is astonishing.
People know there was a failure of government under Blair. It was a failure to govern finance. A willingness to connive with it. A desire to be corrupted — to the core of the soul - by it in Blair's case.
And yes people do want government back. They do want a non-neoliberal party, not a third neo-liberal party. And of course Blair does not want that. It would threaten all he aspired to — the crassness of the wealth that seduced him — if the hegemony of neoliberal politics in the UK was challenged.
And that’s exactly the job Labour has to now take on.
Will it?
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
“And yes people do want government back.”
That’s not what they voted for 3 months ago.
I agree Richard – Blair has always been an implicit Tory, but with this interview, he’s emerged as an explicit one – sinking to a new low. Anyone who can call the Coalition govt “centrist” is out there on the extreme right as far as I’m concerned.
It shows him to be just as out of touch as Cameron, Clegg and Osborne (his proteges) and in many ways even more so. Delusional nonsense – good riddance to the man.
One positive result of the last election is that now, at least, the concept of a coalition government is no longer regarded with dread. It would be a paradox and a total failure of democracy if we simultaneously end up with accepting coalitions as a viable form of government while being left with a choice of 3 parties who increasingly want to dominate the centre ground.
And it is not just Labour that is centrist. Although you spend most of your time vilifying the Tories, it is clear that many Tories (Norman Tebbit and Simon Heffer most visibly) regard Cameron as a centrist. Increasingly, politics has become a matter of presentation and timing, a question of how you do things rather than an examination of what your principles and aims are. But the current electoral system and 24/7 media coverage demands that parties all aim for the middle ground and thus debate is stifled.
He was spot on about Brown, though.
To be fair to Blair, he does seem to have contributed to the Northern Ireland peace process, and the intervention that took place in Sierra Leone under his premiership was a positive example of intervention in a foreign country that did some good.
But that’s about it. New Labour was a betrayal of the values that any social democratic party should stand for. By going along with the neoliberal policies of the Tories and their fellow travellers in business New Labour helped prepare the ground for the financial collapse, and hence the situation we’re in now. As you say, Blair is basically one of the bankers himself now; I believe he’s paid about £2million a year by Morgan Stanley?
And the supreme irony is surely that the ‘Old Labour’ view of the banks has been proven correct. Old Labour would have pointed to the collapse of the banks as an example of market failure, and taken them over directly, instead of handing them billions and then letting them carry on whilst feebly bleating on the sidelines about bonuses and lack of lending.
“Blair is basically one of the bankers himself now; I believe he’s paid about £2million a year by Morgan Stanley?”
J.P.Morgan. About half a million. No idea why.
I stand corrected; it’s J P Morgan, and a mere half a million. Presumably it’s for his ‘contacts’ from when he was PM. I can’t imagine it’s for his economic competence or judgement. Apparently his memoirs are selling at a phenomenal rate. Well, not to me.
Richard,
Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and run for election. Let the people decide.
@Whyohwhy
The fact that I am not a member of a political party does not help
And the many politicians I know say I am more useful doing what I do