Sir Tony Blair’s think tank is said to be pulling together a policy plan to “save the Labour party” amid frustrations over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
The former prime minister is reportedly looking carefully at a number of candidates for leadership campaigns as reports in The Times suggest he is dissatisfied by the direction of Sir Keir’s government.
Sources said November’s Budget had “killed any idea this is a Blairite or New Labour-like government”, adding Sir Tony had all but “given up” on attempting to influence Starmer over recent months.
He is now said to be working with other figures at the centre-left of the party to create a comprehensive policy plan for areas including healthcare, welfare and technology through his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI). These would then apparently be ready to present to a future leader if a leadership contest did emerge.
The former prime minister is set to speak alongside home secretary Shabana Mahmood at an event on Wednesday. Ms Mahmood is tipped to be a contender should a challenge to Sir Keir arise, with those closer to the right of the party favouring her hard-line immigration policies.
Sources told The Times that, while the former Labour leader is reviewing potential future prime ministers, there “isn’t an overall plan to radically reform the state”.
The prime minister and Sir Tony have previously clashed on issues including climate change, when in May, the former Labour leader argued the conversation had become “irrational”.
Sir Tony said in a TBI report: “People know that the current state of debate over climate change is riven with irrationality … any strategy based on either ‘phasing out’ fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail.”
He added that most political leaders “would like to start taking some of the hysteria out of the climate debate but are reluctant to be the first to do so”.
Downing Street hit back, insisting the UK was taking a “pragmatic approach” and that Sir Tony’s suggestions were “aligned” to its overall mission.
Responding to a question in the Commons about the apparent dispute, Sir Keir sought to downplay any differences of opinion between himself and his predecessor.
“What Tony Blair said is we should have more carbon capture, we’ve invested in carbon capture. That’s many jobs across different parts of the country,” the prime minister said in May.
“If you look at the detail of what Tony Blair said, he’s absolutely aligned with what we’re doing here, these are the jobs and the security of the future.”
The Independent has contacted TBI for comment.
