Tony Blair on Nick Robinson's Show

[Saddleworth2]

Isn't that supposed to be the Lib Dems job? And they don't get much electoral support.

Yeah, I suppose it is. They have too little talent and too much baggage to be credible imo. Might be different if the best of both the conservative and labour moderates moved over to them.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Another theory would be that if Labour was centrist now, the overall politics in this country would move to the "right". This country needs Corbyn right now (not necessarily in power) to keep an equilibrium between left and right. It's the only way to keep the politics in centre.

Yes and no. Politics is always shifting depending on circumstances. Until Thatcher there was a vaguely left-centrist consensus with the 2 major parties slightly either side of that but largely in agreement over public ownership and the welfare state. Thatcher moved the consensus well to the right, to the point where Blair's 'New Labour' was well to the right of Heath's Tories. The reaction in the Labour Party was Militant, who were the predecessors to Momentum in some ways, and that led to an all-out civil war in the Party between centre-left & the hard-left. It led to michael Foot's leadership and he was a little reminiscent of Corbyn in some ways - he had deeply held principles and was a very clever man (unlike Corbyn) but he came over as a relic from the past and was a poor communicator and leader. That lost them a lot of support. It took Kinnock, then Smith and Blair, to regain that.

 

[TheBlueDune]

There's a vacuum in the centre that is desperate to be filled.
A party that needs to offer incentives to businesses that can support and develop a strong economy while providing a means of personal progression to people who are at or near the bottom of the social ladder.
A party that believes in solving the degradation in society evidenced by blighted city centres and the abandoned communities in many post-industrial towns.
A party that looks forwards far more than backwards and ignores the sniping tit-for-tat of modern politics.
Unfortunately I believe that anyone who tried to start such a party would be shot down sooner than you could say Twitter.
It would need somebody with the style (but not the substance) of somebody like Trump to sell hope to the general public.

 

[blueinsa]

They’d be getting my vote

Mine as well mate.

Sick to death of today’s so called leaders.

 

[Saddleworth2]

When centrist policies address the deep concerns, the ones often communicated badly, then they pull people back to the moderate. And moderacy, where we acknowledge other parties as working for their view of the common good rather than as evil or corrupt, is where politics and societies thrive.

That is really quite profound. It will take something special to repair the deep divisions in this country irrespective of the outcome of Brexit. A Right wing or Left wing government under May/Johnson or Corbyn will only make things worse. The only way I can see of repairing the damage and having any chance of holding the Union together is through centrist policies. This would need new charismatic leadership to emerge in either of the main parties or the Lib Dems/Greens to form a centre government that is founded on principles of social fairness, compassion, truth, decency, competence and strength rather than political ideology, dogma and cynical self interest. I watched an interview between David Letterman and Obama last night on Netflix and my god do we need someone with his inherent decency and strength of character to emerge and try and pull this country out of a shit downward spiral that has been obvious for the last decade.

 

[Saddleworth2]

There's a vacuum in the centre that is desperate to be filled.
A party that needs to offer incentives to businesses that can support and develop a strong economy while providing a means of personal progression to people who are at or near the bottom of the social ladder.
A party that believes in solving the degradation in society evidenced by blighted city centres and the abandoned communities in many post-industrial towns.
A party that looks forwards far more than backwards and ignores the sniping tit-for-tat of modern politics.
Unfortunately I believe that anyone who tried to start such a party would be shot down sooner than you could say Twitter.
It would need somebody with the style (but not the substance) of somebody like Trump to sell hope to the general public.

Surely more Obama than Trump!

 

[Patientman63]

Yes they were the Centrist Third Way Party and they won three majorities, how that is a failure is anyone’s guess.

The financial crash and Brown being a poor leader in terms of personality finished off New Labour.

And @Damocles

You both have a similar response, and you're both sensible posters, so what happened to the "centrist" way, where did it all go wrong? Where is it now? Given how popular Blair was, how out-of-favour he is now, alongside the rise of JC, particularly with the young, is this all down to the Tories?

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

And @Damocles

You both have a similar response, and you're both sensible posters, so what happened to the "centrist" way, where did it all go wrong? Where is it now? Given how popular Blair was, how out-of-favour he is now, alongside the rise of JC, particularly with the young, is this all down to the Tories?

The problem with the centrist way was that it was fine until we had a financial crisis in which there were two ways to respond. Once was classic Keynesian economics whereby we make up for a lack of private spending with public spending, hopefully prodding the economy back into growth and a steady increase in the tax take, paying off the borrowing as the deficit you've funded moves into surplus. The other way was the ideological, economic illiteracy of George Osborne where you starve the public sector of funds and thereby multiply the negative impact of recession.

I didn't understand it properly at the time but it's clear in hindsight Brown actually did the right thing until Osborne set us all back, with his Thatcherite housewife approach. That's done so much damage that it needs an equally extreme remedy to undo it. You can't just muddle along.

 

[robbieh]

The problem with the centrist way was that it was fine until we had a financial crisis in which there were two ways to respond. Once was classic Keynesian economics whereby we make up for a lack of private spending with public spending, hopefully prodding the economy back into growth and a steady increase in the tax take, paying off the borrowing as the deficit you've funded moves into surplus. The other way was the ideological, economic illiteracy of George Osborne where you starve the public sector of funds and thereby multiply the negative impact of recession.

I didn't understand it properly at the time but it's clear in hindsight Brown actually did the right thing until Osborne set us all back, with his Thatcherite housewife approach. That's done so much damage that it needs an equally extreme remedy to undo it. You can't just muddle along.

So are you advocating Keynesianism or something stronger.

Do you know the Australian economist Steve Keen? He is I think a post keynesian who believes in debt right offs.

 

[bluethrunthru]

Isi it simply a fact that people are natural tribal and hold on to political parties like they would a football team?
It's be interesting to see, in the event of a third way party, how many centre right/centre left people would be back with the Tories/Labour
within a couple of elections.

Exactly - can you imagine if someone merged us and the rags to form Traffordchester City United................. in the hope to capitalise on the latent support in Manchester that just wants a club that plays decent - not great football - week in week out and is managed by a bloke from say Stoke not someone from abroad who has flair or is devisive?