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| Him again? Blair, Labour, and preventing a "hard Brexit." |
There was an interesting
story which came out over the weekend concerning former British Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair returning to (presumably) Parliament due to his concern over the UK's imminent decline in its global standing from Brexit. In particular, Blair is wary of the danger of a so-called "hard Brexit" being favored by the current Conservative PM Teresa May--a nasty divorce from all EU institutions. Being out of office giving Blair little voice in the whole sordid business, there appears to be only one recourse...
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair could return to a frontline role in British politics to try to prevent Theresa May's Conservative Party from destroying the country with a so-called "hard Brexit", he said in an interview.
The only Labour prime minister to win three general elections, Blair was hugely popular during the start of his 10 years in power but his support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq severely tarnished his reputation.
In an interview with Esquire Magazine, Blair said it was a "tragedy" that Britons were left with a choice between a Conservative Party intent on a hard Brexit and a Labour Party that he described as "ultra-left" and stuck in the 1960s.
"I don't know if there's a role for me," he said. "There's a limit to what I want to say about my own position at this moment.
"All I can say is that this is where politics is at. Do I feel strongly about it? Yes, I do. Am I very motivated by that? Yes. Where do I go from here? What exactly do I do? That's an open question."
My personal misgivings about Blair concern his decision to go along with the Iraq invasion. On economic matters, I do not really have significant qualms about the "third way." On having a cosmopolitan vision of the world economy, I am actually on board with him. Yes, the current Labour leader Jeremy Corybn is a warmed-over 60s/70s-era socialist. The question is, can the "third way" currently chart a course between the Conservative Brexit crowd and his party's current infatuation with Communistic throwbacks like Corbyn?
First elected last year on a wave of enthusiasm for a new type of politics, [Current Labour Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn was forced to compete again for his job. Although he was returned as leader with a higher mandate than before, he still lacks the backing of the centrist members of his party.
Blair said Corbyn offered a "mixture of fantasy and error". As a result, he said Britain was a "one-party state".
"The reason why the position of these guys is not one that will appeal to an electorate is not because they're too left, or because they're too principled. It's because they're too wrong," he said.
Unfortunately, the honest truth may be that Blair circa 2016 is even more unsaleable than Corbyn due to supporting the aforementioned Iraq invasion. People remember. We'll see; he can certainly try. As an anti-Brexit voice, I am not waiting for Blair to "save" the UK from it. Rather, it will be a coalition of like-minded incumbents from whatever party who muster enough courage to prevent May's
xenophobic version of it from coming true.
