Labour must put policy first, politics second, Tony Blair says

Tony Blair criticized the Labour government and urged a shift to policy-first decision-making. He warned that Labour’s capacity for self-delusion could lead to losing the next election. He told Labour MPs to require clarity on where people stand before backing a leadership change. He argued for cracking down on welfare spending, abandoning restrictions on oil and gas, embracing technology and artificial intelligence, and improving relations with Donald Trump. He compared the AI revolution to the Industrial Revolution and said it should be central to debate. He argued that changing the person in Number 10 without a coherent policy agenda would not move the country forward.

"If you don't decide what your policy direction is, there's no point in changing the leader. And so the whole essence of the essay is to say it should be policy first, politics second. While he wanted to see Burnham win the Makerfield byelection and return to parliament, on the leadership he urged MPs: Choose your direction first and make sure that before you have any leadership change, you make all the candidates set out in detail their policy, what the government's got right, what it's got wrong, what we should do differently."

"In his 5,700-word essay, published on Tuesday night, Blair argued for the government to crack down on welfare spending, abandon restrictions on oil and gas, embrace the technology and artificial intelligence revolution and smooth relations with Donald Trump. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday: If you don't decide what your policy direction is, there's no point in changing the leader."

"Blair said the AI revolution was the 21st-century equivalent of the Industrial Revolution and was going to change absolutely everything. Yet it's not even part of the debate, he said. He added: You can have a different personality occupying Number 10, but unless you have a policy agenda, which makes sense of the way the world's changing, then you're not going to be any further forward as a country. And you'll find the country keeps shuffling the deck with prime ministers."

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