I am puzzled at how all sorts of people are rushing out to campaign with Blair all of a sudden re the EU. Just when it is looking likely that the Chilcot report will be, lets say, a bit unsupportive of the fellow.

Why would the EU remain campaigners or anyone else think associating with Blair would make their cause look good, a solid and honest choice? Or indeed why wish to be associated with him when he is so disliked by probably the majority of the UK public (ie the voters they wish to entice to their cause).

Is it not on a par with the stupidity of putting a hole in your own ship and being surprised if it starts to sink?

I did wonder that.

Although you don’t have to be a member of the official campaigns, to campaign. So I suspect he’s getting himself on as many platforms as possible to try and get people to associate his image with more than just the two failed war’s.

OTOH, is there any ex PM that history or public opinion judges well in the short to medium term?

Thatcher – almost a trope just to mention it in any argument
Major – so bad that ‘things could only get better’
Blair – see the OP
Brown – possibly saved the UK from re-entering the financial stone age, get’s blamed for the recession anyway

Possibility of pushing him under a battlebus ?

Why do they think we care what any of these old politicians think. If they were any good they would still be in power. They have had their day so please move along. We have more from the old duffers than the politicians actually in power. My MP won’t even say which way he is voting.

Been thinking about this since I posted (sorry about the poor spelling of title by the way).

I wonder if the establishment are closing around Blair to protect him, include him. Rather like an old boys club or how the Masons used to be. We redeem you and you look after us… the elites self interest.

I just cant see any logical reason for touching him with a barge pole. To associate with him seems madness otherwise.

Its only the lefty faction in the Labour Party and further left who hate him. I voted for him and I think he’s just fine. He did what any likely candidate for PM would have done at the time re Iraq. Brown would have gone in as would any possible Tory PM at the time.

Blair’s a grasping, vainglorious, self-obsessed warmonger who lied through his teeth in order to start an illegal war, so he could cozy up to Dubya and look good on the world stage.
Major is an embittered man who blames others for failures in his period in office, such as his obsession with staying in the ERM, and he’s now using Brexit as a weapon to hit back at those he hates in his own party.
It was interesting hearing the opinions of two people involved politically in N.Ireland, who both thought their posturing in N.Ireland to be utterly irresponsible.

OP I agree your comments about Blair. But you could also ask why the Leave campaign puts Michael Gove on the telly. Or John Redwood. Or any other of the out-of-touch, self-serving, hateful turds from any party.

It’s like having to vote for either a giant douche or a turd sandwich.

EU referendum – you can either align yourself with the loons and the racists, or the “business as usual” suits full of **** all.

It’s no choice at all.

jambalaya – Member

Its only the lefty faction in the Labour Party and further left who hate him.

Obviously this must be true because jambalaya said it.

So there you have it……..everyone in the Labour Party, apart from the lefty faction and the further left, thinks that Tony Blair is a great guy.

Makes you wonder then why Blair’s ill-considered intervention in the party leadership elections last year backfired so spectacularly. And why the candidate which he personally endorsed, Liz Kendall, only received 4.5% of the vote.

It’s almost as if pretty much the whole of the party, not just the lefty faction and the further left, hate the geezer.

Funny that.

Also funny is how despite being a great guy 53% of Brits say they can never forgive him.

British public: we will never forgive Tony Blair

“New YouGov research confirms the profound lack of sympathy for the former PM, with a majority (53%) saying that they could never forgive him. Just 8% think Blair did nothing wrong, whilst 15% feel it’s time we forgave Tony Blair for his misjudgements”. [/b]

Just 8% think Blair did nothing wrong? I guess this must mean that 92% of Brits are lefty and further left.

Btw jambalaya, what does “further left” than lefty mean?

@hebdencyclist I’m starting to believe the Tory high command decided the best course of action to defeat the Farage problem was to provide the public with their own ‘leave’ figureheads, then chose the least paletable amongst them to do it – excluding Bojo of course who’s in it to oust CMD if he loses.

It’s working very well imho, given this referendum is a direct result of the mad kippers pre election poll results and it’s basically their only meaningful policy ole worm head had hardly been in the media (relative to last year and the year before).

Most of those in politics – especially those at the top, are so far removed from reality they fail to see the daft / stupid / wrong things they do.

Thats what you end up with if you use politics to find someone to run the country.

Midnighthour – Member
Why would the EU remain campaigners or anyone else think associating with Blair would make their cause look good, a solid and honest choice?

I always laugh when that happens.

The easiest answer is they are All opportunists like any other big commercial organisation.

They would sell their own soul if that means they can achieve their own self interest … ya, self interest. 😛

On the blue corner we have Sir John Major getting a bit animated as well … 😆

Trimix – nail on the head.
Sadiq Khan was quoted today about the EU vote, he is in the bubble that all politicians are in now – they just cannot see what the public are thinking, they just see what they themselves think.
Today on R4 has been asking all types of people all over the UK their views this week. It is ‘traditional’ Labour voters who seem to be the most vociferous in their denouncment of the EU, and how we should leave immediately.
Few people have backed the call to remain on the R4 show, yet all we hear from the Stay campaign is that we will be in the finanacial dark ages the moment we leave. Rubbish. They do not put up a good argument for staying, wheras the Leave team have got the 350million a day/week/month quote whenever they are asked.
Why dont the ‘Stayyers’ convince us thta it is in our interest to stay. I havent heard a good argument to stay yet.

Blair says he wants in. On the basis of his normal relationship with the truth I suggest that he has an interest in “out” winning and knows his contribution to “in” is in fact a huge helping hand to “out”.

jambalaya – Member

Its only the lefty faction in the Labour Party and further left who hate him.

That’s good news- because if true, as of course it must be, this means that the majority of the british people are either in the lefty faction of the Labour party, or even further left.

I for one welcome the new dawn which you have heralded.

Brown would have gone in as would any possible Tory PM at the time.

Nonsense, GB would have just prevaricated about it for years and never actually made a decision either way….

Daily Mash is spot on as usual: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/features/agony-aunt/ask-holly-i-really-hate-that-goody-two-shoes-jeremy-corbyn-20160609109432

when he is so disliked by probably the majority of the UK public

trimax beaten me to it really, Blair hasn’t a clue that most people think he’s a toadying vainglorious asshat

Today on R4 has been asking all types of people all over the UK their views this week. It is ‘traditional’ Labour voters who seem to be the most vociferous in their denouncment of the EU, and how we should leave immediately.

If we leave the EU it’ll be because some racist old git in Merthyr had his shed broken into. Depressing.

I was listening to the interview with Blair on Matt Fordes podcast yesterday.

There were somethings I hated about him, his sliminess, his religiosity, he and his wife’s cowardice about Leo and MMR, and his blind faith in his view on Iraq. But actually, he got quite a lot done, wasn’t conspicuously stupid, and now is made to look a bit of a genius by Corbyn, and Milliband. I think history will judge him well, just as John Major really did rather well too.

But he is poison to the campaign. Where as opportunistic hypocrites who have achieved nothing like Boris are major assets?!

Strange world.

Ernie, left of the traditional Labour Party, ie outside it is what I meant

Warmonger – as I said any potential pm at the time would have done the same, Brown or any Tory. As Blair says many people forget the context of 9/11 including the number of Brits killed and Sadam’s invasion of Kuwait and hassing of the Kurds.

The Labour party would do well to remember it was he who delivered 13yrs of government.

Am I the only one who keeps reading the thread title as ‘camping with Blair’

Ernie, left of the traditional Labour Party, ie outside it is what I meant

So everyone in the Labour Party thinks Tony Blair is a great guy. Yeah that’s quite clear – I hear what you’re saying.

Still can’t figure out why the leadership candidate which Blair personally endorsed only got 4.5% of the vote though.

And you haven’t explained btw what “further left than lefty” means. I’m interested ’cause I quite like the sound of it.

I think I might start calling myself further left than lefty.

Just “lefty” sounds a bit soft.

As Blair says many people forget the context of 9/11 including the number of Brits killed and Sadam’s invasion of Kuwait and hassing of the Kurds.

1. gassing of the kurds at halabja was back in what 1987
2. invasion of kuwait was dealt with at the time
3. plan to go to war caused one of the biggest anti war demo’s of all time
4. government ministers resigned because of the plans for war
5. european heads of state were against war

forgetting the context my arse

People are confused as they are used to people making their minds up for them or do not have enough facts.

Vote leave.

and here we are back with schoolyard politics.
I’m not going there cause Tony is there, I don’t like Dave so I’m going to do the opposite of what he is doing.
The politics of personality is the most dangerous thing going. The same as if basing desisions on you views of the current government (Do this and we get rid of the Tories – at the next eclection, until they are elected again where as this is a one off vote)

Edukator – Reformed Troll
Blair says he wants in. On the basis of his normal relationship with the truth I suggest that he has an interest in “out” winning and knows his contribution to “in” is in fact a huge helping hand to “out”.

Highlighting the stupidity of the voting puble yet again…

because leaving the EU is so f***ing stupid, it makes even aligning with Blair seem sensible.

He’s another supporting remain?

The same as Brown, the two blokes who caused the 2008 recession? Remainers, wake up do you trust their judgement? Their grasp of facts and figures? Their integrity?

Remainers, wake up do you trust their judgement? Their grasp of facts and figures? Their integrity?

The 2008 recession was caused by unfettered neoliberal deregulation which the EU is against.

Remainers, wake up do you trust their judgement? Their grasp of facts and figures? Their integrity?

Firstly Hora

If you want to start doing the He likes so I don’t game.
BoJo
Farage
Do I really need to go on?
Then you want to start on facts and figures???

Really? You do remember the credit card economy? The thousands of deaths? The banks? PFI?

Memory loss?

Garage will never be elected. Boris won’t. He mumbles, he can’t talk like your dear leader Dave. Dave the man you can trust.

Maybe then forget about the people and look at the issues?

I don’t understand how being angry at the broken social compact with capitalism leads you to align your views with the brexit shower of right wing nutjobs?

because leaving the EU is so f***ing stupid, it makes even aligning with Blair seem sensible.

Serious question – what is the argument to stay?
I havent heard any good argument to stay in, but if we leave, we save ~£150M week whatever.

Serious question – what is the argument to stay?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/eu-referendum-are-you-in-or-out/page/106#post-7759629
Plenty in here, by save 150million does that take into account all the stuff we will loose in the process, any fee’s to trade freely with the EU etc.

The argument to stay?

Haven’t you read the newspapers and callmeDave? ‘90% of economists’ say stay’.

Disclaimer: 630 participated out of 3,800 contacted. Of those a majority said the £ would fluctuate’. Of course it would! It will that’s not rocket science but it has done previously too. It always would initially.

The papers and the remains dear leader Dave skewers the story though.

Our trustworthy leader Dave talks in sounbites to counter arguments. Almost as though he’s a demented cheerleader or salesman going through the motions.

The argument to stay in employment protection rights. Cheaper mobile phone calls clean beaches massive support for farming . economic stability. Leaving would mean losing our European Markets or continuin to abid by most of the rules including free movement but with no say in those rules.
I have heard lots of remain arguments but no leave one beyond ” patriotic ” grunting and mumbling about immigration .
Look at the leave figure heads Give is the most coherent ffs who wants to follow a team whose star player is Give.

The argument to stay in employment protection rights.

The only way that argument stands is if employment protection rights cannot be achieved without EU membership.

What evidence do you have that the UK as a sovereign independent state would lack the legislative powers to introduce employment protection rights ?

Specially when it has already extensively done so, from health and safety at work to equal pay, without any EU involvement at all.

Furthermore despite being a full member of the EU it is perfectly legal in the UK to dismiss someone unfairly during their first 2 years of employment. The EU has no view on the matter.

Nor does the EU have any view on UK redundancy laws, which unlike French or Spanish redundancy laws offer no protection to British workers.

Tony Blair famously proudly declared “British law the most restrictive on trade unions in the Western world”[/b] the EU has no view on that matter either and no desire to do anything about it.

EU employment protection rights my arse.

I doubt that Tony Blair even owns a tent. Or a sleeping bag.