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Labour leadership: Prescott attacks Blair's 'totally unacceptable abuse' Jeremy Corbyn victory would be disaster for Labour, says Liz Kendall
(about 4 hours later)
The former deputy prime minister John Prescott has strongly criticised Tony Blair’s intervention in the Labour party’s leadership contest, calling his comment about leftwingers needing a heart transplant “totally unacceptable”. Labour leadership candidate Liz Kendall has said it will be a disaster for the party if polling proves accurate and the leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn wins the contest.
Lord Prescott said he found Blair’s comment, which was aimed at supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, “absolutely staggering”. She explicitly rejected a claim from John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, who used an interview on Thursday to describe Corbyn as a “great guy” who would not be as bad for the party as his critics feared.
In a sign of how the election is already generating severe ructions in the party, Lord Prescott also used his appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme to criticise Tony Blair for saying that supporters of Corbyn needed a heart transplant.
Related: Blair urges Labour not to wrap itself in a Jeremy Corbyn comfort blanketRelated: Blair urges Labour not to wrap itself in a Jeremy Corbyn comfort blanket
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prescott also defended Corbyn from attacks on the viability of his leadership bid, saying that a win for the leftwinger would not be a disaster for Labour. Asked about the impact on Labour of Corbyn winning, Prescott – who is backing Andy Burnham – said: “I don’t think it would be a disaster.”
Prescott said that there was too much “abuse” in the leadership contest generally, and he urged the people in the party to calm down and concentrate on policy instead. A few hours later Kendall, who was placed last in the YouGov poll, bluntly disagreed. A Corbyn victory “would be a disaster”, she told the BBC. “Turning back to the politics of the 1980s, which saw us suffer defeat after defeat, does nothing to help the people we all came into politics to serve.”
Blair’s controversial comments were made on Wednesday, hours after the publication of a YouGov poll of Labour members suggesting that Corbyn, a leftwing backbencher and serial party rebel, was on course to win the Labour leadership. She also insisted that she would not be dropping out of the contest, despite unnamed Labour figures telling newspapers that she should in the hope of making it easier for Burnham or Yvette Cooper to win. “I will be fighting for what I believe in till the very end,” she said.
The former PM ridiculed those in the party who said their heart was urging them to support Corbyn. “When people say: ‘My heart says I should really be with that politics’, get a transplant,” Blair said. Kendall’s comments about Corbyn were backed by Alan Miliburn, the Blairite former health secretary. He said: “I’m afraid history tells a very brutal lesson about what happens when Labour lurches to the left.
On Thursday Prescott told the BBC: “I have a lot of respect for Tony Blair, I worked for him a lot of years, but to use that kind of language is just abuse. The Labour party is about the heart, as well as the head, and to suggest somebody should have a transplant if they are making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable.” “You are out of office, not for five years or 10, but for very many years to come. Now, if the Labour party really does have a death wish, then that is where it will go.”
The peer, who largely managed to keep his disagreements with Blair private during the 10 years he served as deputy prime minister, said Blair should also remember that it was the Iraq war that was stopping people voting Labour.
Related: Should Blair have intervened in Labour's leadership race? Of courseRelated: Should Blair have intervened in Labour's leadership race? Of course
On Wednesday Blair, the former PM, ridiculed those in the party who said their heart was urging them to support Corbyn. “When people say: ‘My heart says I should really be with that politics’, get a transplant,” Blair said.
But on Thursday Prescott told the BBC: “I have a lot of respect for Tony Blair, I worked for him a lot of years, but to use that kind of language is just abuse. The Labour party is about the heart, as well as the head, and to suggest somebody should have a transplant if they are making decisions by the heart is totally unacceptable.”
The peer, who largely managed to keep his disagreements with Blair private during the 10 years he served as deputy prime minister, said Blair should also remember that it was the Iraq war that was stopping people voting Labour.
Related: Blair attacks the left, yet we are the defenders of New Labour’s legacy | Owen Jones
He was even more critical of John McTernan, a former aide to Blair in No 10 and Jim Murphy’s chief of staff when Murphy was Scottish Labour leader. McTernan claimed on Newsnight that the Labour MPs who nominated Corbyn just to allow him to take part in the leadership contest were “morons”.He was even more critical of John McTernan, a former aide to Blair in No 10 and Jim Murphy’s chief of staff when Murphy was Scottish Labour leader. McTernan claimed on Newsnight that the Labour MPs who nominated Corbyn just to allow him to take part in the leadership contest were “morons”.
Prescott said: “Who the heck is John McTernan? He advised in Scotland, and we lost. He advised in Australia, and we lost. ... He has no authority.”Prescott said: “Who the heck is John McTernan? He advised in Scotland, and we lost. He advised in Australia, and we lost. ... He has no authority.”
Prescott confirmed that he was supporting Andy Burnham for leader, not Corbyn, but he rejected suggestions that a Corbyn victory would be a disaster for the party.
He said that Corbyn was not someone driven by personal ambition, and that he was “a great guy”.
Related: Blair attacks the left, yet we are the defenders of New Labour’s legacy | Owen Jones
Prescott also criticised Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, for her handling of the party’s approach to the welfare bill vote on Monday night. Harman ensured that Labour MPs were ordered to abstain on the main vote. But Prescott said this was “silly”, and that she had no right, as interim leader, to settle policy on such an important issue.Prescott also criticised Harriet Harman, the acting Labour leader, for her handling of the party’s approach to the welfare bill vote on Monday night. Harman ensured that Labour MPs were ordered to abstain on the main vote. But Prescott said this was “silly”, and that she had no right, as interim leader, to settle policy on such an important issue.
Describing the affair as a mess, he said: “It was a decision made by Harriet. She had no authority to make it. The shadow cabinet was against it, the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] was against it. I think Harriet got it wrong.”Describing the affair as a mess, he said: “It was a decision made by Harriet. She had no authority to make it. The shadow cabinet was against it, the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] was against it. I think Harriet got it wrong.”
In a comment to the Times, Peter Mandelson, another senior party figure from the Blair years, said that the current leadership turmoil reminded him of the 1980s and that the entire future of the party was at stake.In a comment to the Times, Peter Mandelson, another senior party figure from the Blair years, said that the current leadership turmoil reminded him of the 1980s and that the entire future of the party was at stake.
“Those of us who stayed and fought to save the Labour party in the 1980s will be experiencing a growing sense of deja vu,” he said. “The last five years have left us with a terrible legacy to overcome with the existence of the Labour party as an effective electoral force now at stake.”“Those of us who stayed and fought to save the Labour party in the 1980s will be experiencing a growing sense of deja vu,” he said. “The last five years have left us with a terrible legacy to overcome with the existence of the Labour party as an effective electoral force now at stake.”
Some unnamed party figures have been briefing newspapers that Liz Kendall, the “Blairite” candidate who the YouGov poll showed to be in last place, should drop out to help either Burnham or Yvette Cooper.
On Thursday a spokesman for Kendall said the proposal was nonsense and that Kendall would ignore it. “This briefing is nonsense because in a preference vote it doesn’t matter how many candidates there are,” the spokesman said.
“This is deliberate misleading briefing that says more about Andy and Yvette’s problems following their flip-flop on welfare. But more than that, we’re in this to win. Liz is going to continue setting out how she believes Labour can win again in 2020 if we make the right choices now.”
Cooper told the Today programme she did not think Kendall should pull out. Prescott also said she should remain in the race.