[Politics] Tony Blair doubts Labour can be 'taken back by moderates'

[Napper]

Blair probably the best prime minister we've ever had in terms of what was achieved .

Gets hammered for the war though and if he ever came back a lot of people and the press would never let that go.

 

[Mackenzie]

That's a bit like saying we should drop Murray for a younger faster striker who will score twenty five goals a season. Just like Labour needing a leader who'll appeal to mainstream voters, we haven't got one!

[yt]Qj26SJAJhBY[/yt]

This fellow appeals to me, a mainstream voter.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

So basically you just want a Remain party that will find a way to cancel Brexit? Well, there's 17M who won't be voting for that then!

1.6million have changed their minds to remain according to the latest you.gov figures.

 

[Machiavelli]

Really? Is that not a decent description of someone who is right of Corbyn's Labour and left of the Tories?

There is such a thing as the centre. The mistake that the centrists make is that they think it's fixed; it isn't, it moves all over the place. To compare the current political centre today with what was considered as such five years ago, let alone fifty, is daft.

 

[Goldstone1976]

There is such a thing as the centre. The mistake that the centrists make is that they think it's fixed; it isn't, it moves all over the place. To compare the current political centre today with what was considered as such five years ago, let alone fifty, is daft.

I agree wholeheartedly. You agree with me that there is today a centre. Given that, it's not unreasonable to describe a person who holds those views as centrist, notwithstanding the fact that the centre moves. It may be the case that different people may hold centrist views from year to year, as the centre moves, but to deny that at any point in time, there is no centre is incorrect, imo.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Politics of the extreme are no good for anyone and that is why people are hoping a centre party is created. Whilst this is also likely to be a remain party I think it will get support from many of the 17 million who previously called for Brexit, people have recognised what a mistake this is. Some good names have been mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Blair probably the best prime minister we've ever had in terms of what was achieved .

Gets hammered for the war though and if he ever came back a lot of people and the press would never let that go.

There is never any forgiveness in politics. The Lib Dems will never be forgiven for giving up on student fees, and Blair will never be forgiven for the war.

 

[Pavilionaire]

So basically you just want a Remain party that will find a way to cancel Brexit? Well, there's 17M who won't be voting for that then!

Er no, I want a party that will commit to a Second Referendum on the Deal we get with the EU, then abide by the result.

I have no problem with a Referendum on something that is known. I can forgive the £350mill for the NHS, they need us more than we need them, etc because that contra's off against Osborne's Emergency Budget scare-mongering rubbish, but what was - and still is - unforgiveable is the lie that there was ever the prospect of a "Deal". Anyone who knows about the EU's 4 Freedoms know they wouldn't compromise those to suit us, ergo No Deal. Had Leave been honest about this Remain would have won by a small margin.

 

[GT49er]

1.6million have changed their minds to remain according to the latest you.gov figures.

Just as I expect quite a few remain voters have come round to accepting Brexit. Now if that new centrist party came out 100% in favour of Brexit, that could make things very interesting. Not only would it take the pro-Brexit voters from the Tory party (you, the old, right wing, xenophobic racist ones!) but would also harvest those millions of Labour voters from the Labour heartlands that were the strongest supporters of Brexit.
Won't happen of course - but it would certainly make the next GE interesting!

 

[GT49er]

Er no, I want a party that will commit to a Second Referendum on the Deal we get with the EU, then abide by the result.

I have no problem with a Referendum on something that is known. I can forgive the £350mill for the NHS, they need us more than we need them, etc because that contra's off against Osborne's Emergency Budget scare-mongering rubbish, but what was - and still is - unforgiveable is the lie that there was ever the prospect of a "Deal". Anyone who knows about the EU's 4 Freedoms know they wouldn't compromise those to suit us, ergo No Deal. Had Leave been honest about this Remain would have won by a small margin.

In that case you perhaps need to include some potential leaders in your wish-list who aren't 100% gung-ho remainers!

 

[spring hall convert]

Is there any chance of the Tory party being taken back by the moderates anytime soon? 43 years and counting.

 

[Pavilionaire]

In that case you perhaps need to include some potential leaders in your wish-list who aren't 100% gung-ho remainers!

Johnson? Rees-Mogg? Farage? I haven't got a problem with the fact they're Leavers, I've just got a problem with the fact they're all kvnts.

 

[Eeyore]

I voted for Corbyn as leader and I would say I broadly align with a lot of his views. I realise that some of my views are not shared by the majority in this country (Unilateral disarmament, abolition of the monarchy) but others are (Renationalising the railways).
Since becoming leader, Corbyn has turned out to be a rather ineffective Leader of the Opposition (whatever party is in gumment, they need a strong LotO to hold them to account) and I don't think he has enough appeal to the "middle of the road" voters, be they left-leaning Tories, centerist Labour or pragmatic Greens, to be elected and form a strong government; He should have been tearing Theresa May and her rag-tag band of chancers a new ********, that he hasn't speaks volumes.
I think it's time for him to stand aside for a leader who will appeal to the majority of voters.

I like Corbyn- a lot. But he is an activist and effective campaigner. In short, a splendid nuisance.

He would be a good opposition leader except that he is unable to be so given the detractors in the party and hideous hysterics of the media.

His brand of socialism, commendable as it is, cannot be introduced without capturing public imagination. That cannot happen without a ready public and all the vehicles of power onside. So, basically, he wouldn't last as leader of the nation. The alternative, it seems, is something far less palatable (for me anyway) a right wing Tory government.

A centre party, with Corbyn biting at the ankles, I like that.

 

[Ernest]

Really? Is that not a decent description of someone who is right of Corbyn's Labour and left of the Tories?

It means someone who has no beliefs , a centrist believes in nothing

 

[father_and_son]

Whilst I think there is a popular desire for a centrist party to appear, it would only work as part of a coalition government (if first-past-the-post) or alongside a complete overhaul in our government structure and electoral process. I don't think they could gain more than 1/3 of the votes.

For as long as we maintain a confrontational democracy (where the duty of the opposition is to oppose the government, always presenting an alternative view) we would never get a working majority in government that could do anything (not necessarily a bad thing!).

If the whip system were removed and all MPs voted according to their belief in the proposal being voted on then the "average" MP would be a true centrist... but for as long as the centrists are required to tow their party lines or face retribution, we are destined to lurch right then left then right again and never get an outcome which most voters would agree to be the best solution.

 

[Murray 17]

There is no such thing as a 'centrist'

I'm with you on this Ernest.

What is a centrist? One party supports privatisation, one nationalisation. One supports increasing taxes to pay for spending and increasing welfare payments, the other the opposite. One broadly supports staying in the EU, the other probably broadly against.

A centrist party would therefore need to support part privatisation, increasing taxes a little, and being part of the EU, but not fully in.

I can't see how there is a halfway between the two main parties. I also think that the Lib Dems are too much to the left anyway, with their policies.

 

[Murray 17]

1.6million have changed their minds to remain according to the latest you.gov figures.

I may be wrong, but didn't YouGov predict a comfortable win for Remain in the referendum?

I wouldn't read too much into these type of polls.

 

[Questions]

This Centrist party already seems too right wing for me.

 

[Gwylan]

I may be wrong, but didn't YouGov predict a comfortable win for Remain in the referendum?

52% to 48% win for Remain

 

[Murray 17]

52% to 48% win for Remain

Thank you [emoji106]