The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned his party not to get involved in a “culture war” over trans rights or they will lose it.
Mr Blair warned members of the Labour party not to turn the party simply into a ‘pressure group’ and urged them not to sign up to a 12-point pledge card issued by the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights (LCTR).
The pledge card that is already backed by Wigan MP Ms Nandy and Ms Long-Bailey has face criticism by calling for ‘expulsion from the Labour Party of those who express bigoted, transphobic views’.
Speaking to an audience in London the former Labour leader said: ‘You’ve got to distinguish between the advocacy of things which are right – gay rights, transgender rights – and launching yourself politically into a culture war with the right,’ he said.
‘If you go, ”transgender rights is our big thing,” and the right goes, ”immigration controls is our big thing,” you’re going to lose that.
‘You’re not going to be advancing any of the things you want to do.’
Mr Blair also said the party must abandon the hard left or face becoming more and more irrelevant, he pointed out he is the party’s only living former leader to have won a general election since it was established 120 years ago.
Mr Blair said the Labour party’s catastrophic general election defeat could have been predicted, he said: ‘Our latest defeat was entirely predictable and predicted,’ he said in his latest savage criticism of his successor.
‘We went into the election with a leader with a -40 per cent approval rating on political ground chosen by our opponents and a manifesto promising the earth but from a planet other than Earth.’
The former PM even suggested Labour may have to join forces with the Liberal Democrats to win power, refusing to talk down an official alliance and saying: ‘How this is done institutionally, that’s a matter for debate.’
His comments come just days before voting in the final stage of the Labour leadership race is due to take place with Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy all vouching to be the next leader of the party.
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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