This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tony-blair-jeremy-corbyn-labour-leadership-contest-dont-vote-annihilation-10452971.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Tony Blair on Labour leadership contest: Don't vote for Jeremy Corbyn even if you hate me Tony Blair on Labour leadership contest: Don't vote for Jeremy Corbyn even if you hate me
(34 minutes later)
In a sign of growing anxiety in some parts of Labour, Tony Blair has warned that under Mr Corbyn, the party would face "possibly annihilation" at the 2020 election. Tony Blair has urged Labour supporters to disregard their antipathy towards him and not to elect Jeremy Corbyn as MP.
The former prime minister warned the party is in "danger more mortal" today than at any point in its existence as veteran left-winger Mr Corbyn continues to remain the frontrunner in the contest. Mr Corbyn, a left-winger who emphatically rejects Mr Blair’s New Labour legacy, is on course to win his party’s leadership contest, according to polls and other indicators.
Mr Blair directed his remarks at long-standing members and called on them to "save the party" and heed his warnings regardless of whether they used to "support me or hate me". But Mr Blair warned that the party would face “annihilation” under members’ favourite candidate.
The former Prime Minister writes in The Guardian: “The Labour Party is in danger more mortal today than at any point in the over 100 years of its existence… The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched, over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the left, right or centre of the party, whether you used to support me or hate me,” Mr Blair wrote in the Guardian newspaper.
“This is not a moment to refrain from disturbing the serenity of the walk on the basis it causes ‘disunity’. It is a moment for a rugby tackle if that were possible.” “The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below.”
The camps of Mr Corbyn's rivals - Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall - believe Mr Corbyn may secure earlier access than them to the names of trade unionists who have become affiliated supporters, as Mr Corbyn has won the support of major unions such as Unite and Unison. The former prime minister’s intervention is an apparent about-face on comments he made last month, where he told an audience in London that he would not endorse a leadership candidate for fear his unpopularity might end up hurting their chances.
Privately, the Tories’ high command finds it hard to conceal its delight over likely victory of Jeremy Corbyn The three teams may have to wait 10 days for their lists of those eligible to vote. Ballot papers will be sent out from tomorrow and many people are expected to vote within 48 hours. By contrast, he has made efforts to make his negative opinion about Mr Corbyn known. He has previously told people who felt they supported the left-winger in their heart to “get a heart transplant”.
In a joint letter, the three campaigns said: “This would not be a level playing field for all candidates.” Privately, the Tories’ high command finds it hard to conceal its delight over likely victory of Jeremy Corbyn Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that Mr Blair had clearly not read Mr Corbyn’s manifesto.
A spokeswoman for the Corbyn campaign said: “As it has been reported that affiliated supporters’ data is likely to be made available to campaigns with respective union support, from Jeremy’s campaign we wish to be clear: this is, simply, factually inaccurate – all campaigns get the same data at the same time.” "Tony Blair clearly hasn’t read Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto because he’s not going back to the 1980s; he’s dealing with the problems we have got now," he said.
"There’s a few people who are a bit embittered and can’t come to terms with the fact the last Labour government wasn’t the greatest in human history. But the vast bulk of Labour MPs will know their local party want them to make this work."
Mr Corbyn warned earlier in the campaign that Mr Blair could stand trial for war crimes over the invasion of Iraq, which is thought by some to have been illegal under international law.
“I think it was an illegal war,” he said in an interview with BBC2's Newsnight adding that former UN secretary general had confirmed that. “Therefore he (Blair) has to explain that,” Corbyn said.