Those understandably alarmed by the announcement that Tony Blair will return as an “adviser” to Labour will presumably be relieved to learn that his remit is limited to how Britain can maximise its “Olympic legacy”. As Labour List’s Mark Ferguson writes, “If the party is going to fall out over what Tony Blair thinks we should do with a velodrome, we’re in real trouble…”.
Yet the political symbolism of Ed Miliband’s decision to share a platform with the former prime minister at last night’s Labour fundraising dinner should not be underestimated. In the early months of Miliband’s leadership, when he distanced the party from Blair’s stances on Iraq, the economy, tuition fees and civil liberties, the two would never have appeared in such close proximity. Blair’s memoir, A Journey, in which he echoed the coalition’s stance on deficit reduction, was seen as confirmation of his toxic status.
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