Tony Blair has long been viewed as a divisive character. For some he is the greatest Labour leader of the twenty first century, managing to win three consecutive Labour majorities. Something Labour can only dream of today. For others he is a war criminal. Leading the United Kingdom, in partnership with the United States, into an illegal invasion of Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction – that never existed. People have called for his arrest, others have sung his praises. However, this divisive figure had mainly been off the political radar after his 2007 resignation as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party. Ironically, taking on the role as UN Middle East peace envoy before resigning earlier this year.
This week Blair shared his opinion on the Labour leadership election and the current political make-up of the British Isles. With comments on current front runner Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish nationalism being the most notable. Addressing the Progress think tank, Mr Blair said anyone who says their heart is with Corbyn should "get a transplant". While also suggesting Labour could win again but not with a "traditional leftist" message. Something that former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has hit out at. Lord Prescott criticised Blair's comments, telling the former Prime Minister to "calm down". He has also called the comments "unacceptable" and urged the party to "stop the abuse" and return its focus to policy. However, Mr Blair's criticism of the left did not stop at his own party, as he hit out at the Scottish National Party. In his attack he called the SNP a "reactionary political force" and accused the Nationalists of blaming others for Scotland's problems. However, he was not finished there as he continued to say
"[Nationalism] is the politics of the first caveman council, when the caveman came out from a council where there were difficult decisions and pointed with his club across the forest and said, 'They're the problem, over there, that's the problem' It's blaming someone else."
These comments did not go unchallenged as Mhairi Black MP called Mr Blair "badly out of touch" something many in the SNP have criticised Labour of being in regards to Scotland. As Labour have been trying to find reasons and excuses for losing forty of their forty one seats in Scotland many of their senior figures, rather than looking to themselves, have pointed the finger of blame at the SNP and a surge of nationalism as the reason for their election defeat. It would appear that Blair's own party have taken to the ways of the original caveman council. Rather than having a serious discussion about their election defeat, senior figures are pointing their fingers toward the SNP and claiming "You. You're the problem, it's your fault we lost." So, for many SNP members, even voters or supporters, it is hard to take Tony Blair's comments seriously.
The surge of nationalism that New Labour say is the reason for the electoral success of the SNP is something twenty year old Mhairi Black addressed in her maiden speech to the house of commons earlier this month. In which she made clear that the success of the SNP was not down to a "surge in nationalism" but instead down to a surge of hope. For many Corbyn supporters he offers some hope. Hope that their party isn't just a diluted version of the Conservatives, hope of a UK without nuclear weapons and hope of an economic policy without austerity. However, Kenndall, Cooper and Burnham have criticised Corbyn for not being leadership material. Yet, he continues to lead the polls. If the grassroots of Labour are so passionate for Corbyn but Labour as a party are not, then how can Labour expect to recover from their election annihilation? The phrase that the Labour party has left voters not the contrary has been used so often by SNP voters it has become cliched, but it still holds some truth. Traditional Labour supporters want a Labour party that stands up for those at the bottom but what they are getting is a party that is more focused on the middle class vote than that of the average worker. If the Labour party really want to win back Scotland they cannot continue to be a party of the centre-right. For many in Scotland there is no reason to vote Labour, if they want a centre-left party they can vote SNP, if they want a party of the centre ground they can vote Liberal Democrat and if they want a party to the right they can vote Conservative. The Labour party's position as the party of the left has been snatched by the talons of the SNP and they will not be giving up that position any time soon.
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