Tony Blair warns Labour will never win power if it ‘looks askance’ at JK Rowling

[stumbledin]

This in fact is a Pink News headline and I'm not going to give the link.

But I just thought on one level it was quite funny, but also never thought Blair would comment on the trans women issue.

Though in terms of the future of the Labour Party (with some suggesting Blair should come back as party leader!!!!!) I cant think that given his reputation re the Iraq War and now siding with "transphobes" as JKR is portrayed by Momentumites and others that this will help win him support!

I think PN claimed that this was his position based on an article in the New Statesman - but I cant really recognise it!

Extract:

A large part of moderate progressive opinion simply wants to steer clear of these cultural and identity issues entirely. The moderates – often of an older generation – don’t quite understand the strength of feeling over issues such as trans rights. They distrust their own sensors and fear tripping up or saying the wrong thing, and so have come to a position which basically says: there is no culture war, in any event we’re not playing it, or if there is and we are forced to play, we will play at the back as quietly as possible.

I believe this is a mistake and merely reinforces the sense of being weak people who don’t really stand for anything. And, as I know from a lifetime in politics, however successful a leader you are, you don’t always decide the agenda. You can decide the answer, but you can’t always decide the question. Your political opponents have a say, and most importantly, so does the public.

The right knows they’re on to something on these cultural issues. They are revelling in it and setting traps for the left all over the field, which the left is falling into one by one. (Or not. A key moment for Biden was when he comprehensively disowned “defund the police”, while backing police reform.)

Keeping your head down isn’t a strategy. There is a big culture battle going on. Progressive folk tend to wince at terms such as “woke” and “political correctness”, but the normal public knows exactly what they mean. And the battle is being fought on ground defined by the right because sensible progressives don’t want to be on the field at all. The consequence of this is that the “radical” progressives, who are quite happy to fight on that ground, carry the progressive standard. The fact that it ensures continued right-wing victory doesn’t deter them at all. On the contrary, it gives them a heightened sense of righteousness, like political kamikaze.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2021/05/tony-blair-without-total-change-labour-will-die

Totally agree with Blair. I voted for him 3 times and would vote for him tomorrow.

Blair is completely right and Starmer is an utter coward. He picked up the courage to speak about anti Semites, but what about womens rights? Not so brave. I would happily see Blair leading the Labour Party. He would speak his mind. Starmer was only lesser of the other evils, ie Lisa Nandy and Long Bailey who have thrown womens rights under the bus

Yes, I agree with Blair as well and I kind of despise his basic pro global capitalist political approach.

I might quibble with what he means by building things up from the political centre - I think in terms of the larger political problem of Labour part of the problem is not that they went to "far" left, but that they have essentially become a type of liberal party. So in that sense I don't think the Blairite centre is the answer.

But in the sense of not being in thrall to what are really rather extremist movements and coming back to a more mainstream view of things more generally, he's right. You just can't expect to get anywhere as a major political party if you abandon the vast majority of people.

And he's right that when you start repudiating people like JKR, or Trevor Phillips - someone many people admire deeply as a social justice activist and really first class, honest hard working political figure - that's just not sustainable. Even people who don't understand the issues start to wonder.

I suspect Starmer knows the problem, the difficulty is how to wrest control of the party.

@WarOnWomen

I hope not, Nauticant.

I can’t stand Blair but he’s making a valid point here. Labour is eating itself right now.

As for Pink News, a day without JKR in the headlines is a dull day for them. I can see them salivating every time someone in the media spotlight mentions JKR so they can write about her or link something to her. Obsessed is the word.

Obsessed to a T.

Plank News is dying though, it’s going to be first against the wall when the LGB people realise what it’s done to them.

@thinkingaboutLangCleg

Raising my hand as yet another (ex) Labour supporter who is keeping Blair in the bad box over Iraq but quite agrees with him here.

My hand's up too.

This is how Blair works though. He tells you exactly what you want to hear, until he gets into power and then does the exact opposite. You can never trust a word from that mans mouth.

But it was interesting that Blair tried not to give away which side he's on in the trans / women's rights issue

And now I’m reminded of the Tony Blair/‘Miranda’ thing and I’m curious as to where he stands on this!

Unfortunately from what I’ve seen this week there’s the predictable response of ‘not listening to a word out of the mouth of that war criminal’. But I think that suits the current Labour objective. I don’t believe they actually want to be in power, it’s too much of a poisoned chalice.

The Labour Party became the debating society quite some time ago. A students union for adults (term used loosely). Whilst the momentum crowd and the cohort of middle class members discuss and debate, the party has gradually gone to the dogs.

This was my party and I hate what has happened. Labour will not discuss the issues because when they do, the edifice will fall even further. Sad sad days and for Labour, there is the worrying sign that the Greens will take over, or take too much of a share of the Labour vote - Blair hasn't looked at that hot potato. The sooner Pink News goes to the wall the better (but I think they have big US backing)

As for Pink News, a day without JKR in the headlines is a dull day for them. I can see them salivating every time someone in the media spotlight mentions JKR so they can write about her or link something to her. Obsessed is the word

They're like the dementors.... the men at pink news are dementors. or death eaters. JKR is living her book. hunted by the media and lied about. but I'm an optimist and there will be a happy ending.