Yesterday I found myself at the big Tony Blair Institute conference, AKA Blairstock. It’s like Glastonbury for centrist nerds but with better loos. And the only drugs anyone was on were high-functioning ashwagandha supplements.
Last year, the mood was pretty flat. The Tories were in the midst of another leadership contest lurching to the Right and yet the prospect of a Labour government felt very remote. Cut to 12 months later and vibe was very different, which was reflected in the headline act: Sir Keir Starmer, who most people in the country now think will be the next prime minister.
But not just that — for the first time, Sir Tony and Sir Keir would share a stage. The symbolism was there for all to see and there was a giddy excitement in the room; a thrill but mild terror at this double act. What if Sir Tony eclipsed Keir with his effortless tanned, jet-set charisma? And even worse, what if Sir Keir had some kind of Mr Bean mishap like he tripped on stage? The stakes were high.
We always thought David Miliband was the heir to Blair, but that crown was given yesterday to Starmer
Sir Keir made a short speech about the importance of winning power, a mission-led Labour government and the pursuit of economic growth. But it was the chat that was main event. Things got off to a good start when Sir Tony asked Sir Keir how he found PMQs and he quipped “I’m a bit out of practice”, archly referring to Rishi Sunak’s now trademark tactic of avoiding the weekly joust.
The encounter ran like clockwork. It was clearly choreographed to avoid any difficult issues like Brexit, but the key optic was that this was Sir Tony giving Sir Keir his blessing and the Labour leader was delighted to receive it. We always thought that David Miliband was the heir to Blair, but yesterday that crown was given to the man who once served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. Both Sir Tony and Sir Keir have been on a journey with each other.
This was an important moment of definition for Sir Keir. He picked a side, and it was a three-time election winner.
This love-in collided with one of the most difficult moments of party management since suspending Corbyn — the decision not to scrap the two-child limit on child benefits. Sir Keir has faced a fierce backlash. This is a divisive, emotional issue for Labour members, and many leading lights including Mayor Sadiq Khan hate the policy as cruel and contributing to child poverty. Sir Keir himself has spoken out against it but hit back at critics saying that he simply cannot make unfunded spending commitments when the public finances are so bad. This is a glimpse into the reality of the desperately hard choices he faces if he wins and how unpopular he may have to become in order to fix things.
Sir Keir is right to be honest with the public who have been sold snake oil. But it’s a delicate balance. As one candidate cautioned, “if we’re too bleak, how do we convince the person struggling and disconnected from politics that we can really change their life?”
I hated Barbie as a child — now I’m gagging to see the film
I was never into Barbie as a child, but my parents did buy me the British equivalent: a Sindy doll with a house. What can I say? We’re Indian — we like to get on the property ladder early. I was a tomboy and was much more into Star Wars. I wanted to be Princess Leia (obviously not in the gold bikini, chained to Jabba the Hutt) rather than these blonde, leggy, pneumatic dolls. I found them all too dead eyed, boring and a bit creepy. I also couldn’t relate in any way as a girl who looked very different from these icons of “female perfection”. Yet 40 years later, I am gagging to see the Barbie film and find out if the old girl’s had any feminist life breathed into her courtesy of Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie. I used to be very snobby about “girlie” women but then I got involved with Harriet Harman’s infamous pink bus, so don’t really have a shapely, perma-tanned leg to stand on.
