Sir Keir Starmer has hailed Tony Blair as a “three-times winner” after brushing aside the Labour Left.
In his keynote speech at the party’s annual rally in Brighton, Sir Keir listed achievements in the Blair/Brown years including the National Minimum Wage, cutting hospital waiting lists and addressing rough sleeping.
But he stopped short of mentioning Mr Blair by name.
Pressed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning to do so, he responded: “Tony Blair was a three-times winner in the Labour Party and we need to get back to winners in the Labour Party.”
Later he told Sky News that Mr Blair had changed millions of millions and that Labour should be “proud” of these achievements.
His remarks are a stark departure from the rejection of Mr Blair by the Jeremy Corbyn leadership, many of his supporters and other Labour activists–particularly over the Iraq War.
Sir Keir was also pressed to be clearer on how Labour would fund investment in the NHS and social care.
“We have said that those with the broadest shoulders should pay,” he said, signalling that London could be hardest hit by Labour’s tax plans.
“We have said that means we have to look at those that get their income from property, from stocks and shares and dividends.”
