Blair warns Labour not to drift to the left

TONY BLAIR risked plunging the Labour leadership contest into civil war yesterday by issuing a warning to the party not to drift to the left.

In his memoirs, published on the day the first votes were cast in the Labour leadership election, Mr Blair warned that Labour faces defeat at the next election if it abandons the New Labour agenda he framed as prime minister.

His comments were widely seen as support for leadership front-runner David Miliband over his brother, Ed, though the former premier was careful in the book and interviews promoting it not to endorse any of the five candidates to succeed Gordon Brown.