Tony Blair: I Could Save Britain From a 'One-Party State'

In an interview with men's magazine Esquire, Tony Blair dropped the bombshell that he is considering a political comeback to British politics.

"All I can say is that this is where politics is at. Do I feel strongly about it? Yes, I do. Am I very motivated by that? Yes. Where do I go from here? What exactly do I do? That's an open question," Tony Blair said.

The former Labour prime minister justified a possible comeback by lamenting the growing list of shocking political upheavals, which the UK has faced in recent months: the unprecedented Brexit vote in June; the unexpected resignation of only recently re-elected Prime Minister Cameron; the failed mass coup of Labour MPs against opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn; and the governing Conservative Party being dragged to the right by Theresa May, an unelected prime minister with no mandate from the British electorate.

Blair called it "a tragedy" that the two choices facing the electorate now, are the Conservative government pursuing a hard Brexit and "an ultra-left Labour Party."

But, a mere three months after the Chilcot Inquiry gave a crushing verdict of Blair's premiership in the run up to the Iraq War, is there any appetite among Brits for a Blair Mark 2?

Tony Grew, a political journalist at The Sunday Times newspaper, told Sputnik that even Blair's famed abilities at spinning a good story may struggle to convince voters that he's what is needed.

"I'm not quite sure where he would fit in. It's all very well for him to hint at a return but I don't see a place for him," Mr. Grew told Sputnik.

"He may choose to found and lead a pro-European movement. But I don't know if that would work as his reputation is pretty patchy. I don't think there's a place for him to return to front-line politics in the Labour Party, as the party is going to be hostile to him.

"The public is in two minds about him: the war in Iraq is still in people's minds… There's also the possibility of him pursuing a seat in the Lord, although that too is problematic for Blair."

"Then there's the idea of the Labour party splitting and a centrist party being created, but that is not likely I think. The Labour party aren't good at doing anything brave in a united way. It's an intriguing story but I don't think there's much support for Blair," he added.

Perhaps in a pitch to some of his former parliamentary Labour colleagues, Blair also heavily criticized the current Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Blair decried Corbyn's policy platform as "a mixture of fantasy and error", with "a set of policies that takes us back to the sixties."

Blair added: "It's a huge problem because they live in a world that is very, very remote from the way that broad mass of people really think. The reason why the position of these guys is not one that will appeal to an electorate is not because they're too left or because they're too principled; it's because they're too wrong."

In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum on June 23, nearly 50 Labour MPs resigned en masse, in an attempt to topple Corbyn's leadership. They failed, but a leadership challenge was launched. Corbyn defeated his opponent Own Smith, but the challenge itself consumed the party in bitter attacks and counter-attacks for months.

Political commentator Mr. Grew says that while many Labour MPs may agree with Blair, such feelings are unlikely to translate into public political backing.

"I think a significant group of MPs agree with Blair. But I don't think it [Corbyn's policy platform] is such a hard-left agenda. In other countries, Corbyn's agenda would be considered run-of-the-mill socialist policies," Mr. Grew told Sputnik.

"But that [Blair's disapproval] is typical of Blair. To him, socialism is the problem and the reason why Labour wasn't winning elections."

"Now we're living in a post-Brexit world: we're in a completely different and unprecedented situation right now. For the Parliamentary Labour Party, they can't rely on nostalgia… They have been comprehensibly beaten. They challenged Corbyn and they failed. So, rather than focusing on Mr. Blair, I think they have much more pressing problems like how they're going to try and work with Corbyn."