Tony Blair warns Labour not to repeat mistakes

Tony Blair has issued a stark warning to Labour not to repeat the mistakes of the 1980s which consigned the party to 18 years in opposition.

In a rare intervention, the former prime minister said a shift to the left after the party’s general election defeat would be to treat voters as if they were “stupid”.

His comments, to the centre-left Progress think-tank, came as the first public opinion poll in the Labour leadership contest put left winger Jeremy Corbyn on course for a shock victory.

Blair derided the veteran backbencher as the “Tory preference” and said the party could not regain power if it was simply a “platform for protest” against cuts. He mockingly suggested anyone whose “heart says I should really be with that politics” should “get a transplant”.

Corbyn dismissed claims he would split the party and hit back at Blair’s claim he was the “Tory preference”.

“I would have thought he could manage something more serious than those very silly remarks,” he said.

“Surely we should be talking about the situation facing Britain today, the situation facing many of the poorest people in this country today, and maybe think if our policies are relevant.” In a keynote speech setting out his economic policy, Corbyn said austerity was a “political choice not an economic necessity”.

He promised a “publicly- led expansion and reconstruction of the economy” while protecting public services and increasing taxes on the wealthy.

With the unexpected surge in support for Corbyn threatening to plunge Labour into turmoil, Blair warned the party could not win on an “old-fashioned leftist platform”.

He compared the position facing Labour to the 1980s when the party swung to the left under Michael Foot, paving the way for 18 years of Conservative rule.

“After the 1979 election the Labour Party persuaded itself of something absolutely extraordinary.

“Jim Callaghan had been prime minister and the Labour Party was put out of power by Margaret Thatcher and the Labour Party persuaded itself that the reason why the country had voted for Margaret Thatcher was because they wanted a really left-wing Labour Party. This is what I call the theory that the electorate is stupid, that somehow they haven’t noticed that Margaret Thatcher was somewhat to the right of Jim Callaghan.”

Blair’s intervention came as research by YouGov for The Times found Corbyn was the first preference for 43% of party supporters — way ahead of bookies’ favourite Andy Burnham on 26%.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper was on 20% and Liz Kendall 11%. The study forecast that if Kendall and Cooper were eliminated and second preferences redistributed, Corbyn would beat Burnham by 53% to 47% in the final round.