Showing posts with label Tony Blair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Blair. Show all posts

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Robert Peston’s apparent bias is dragging ITV into a very bad place, says Whitehall insider

 Delivering the prestigious Cudlipp media lecture in 2020, Robert Peston claimed he had ‘tried to practise impartial journalism all my professional life’.

   JUNE 14, 2022


He did, however, have the grace to add: ‘I’ve f***** things up far too many times for comfort.’

And on that score, even by his own standards of tedious and pompous indignation, ITV’s political editor has excelled himself over the past 48 hours.

In a series of increasingly hyperbolic tweets, Peston has accused the Prime Minister of ‘astonishing’, ‘extraordinary’ and ‘laughable’ behaviour over legislation — unveiled on Monday — to override parts of the so-called Northern Ireland protocol, the issue driving a wedge between the province and mainland Britain.

Even arch-Remainer Tony Blair has been surprised by the EU’s intransigence on this subject and urged Brussels to compromise with London to avert a trade war.

But Peston has been having none of it.

‘Perhaps it is no surprise,’ he has sneered, ‘that in publishing its legal advice on the lawfulness of breaching the NI Protocol, the Government does not cite a single eminent lawyer in defence of its position. Johnson will not easily slough off the charge — made even by some of his MPs — that he is wilfully breaching international law, to the detriment of the UK’s standing.’

Unlike Peston’s verbose soliloquies on ITV, such nakedly partisan tweets are not policed by the broadcast regulator Ofcom. In the Wild West of social media, he is off the leash.

And this is causing ructions inside the Government.

As a senior Whitehall source put it to me last night: ‘ITV and Ofcom have to understand that the public see no difference between what Peston says on TV and on what he says on social media. He is dragging ITV into a very bad place.’

It is a view echoed by another senior government figure, who mutters to me that several Tory MPs are now urging No 10 to boycott programmes associated with Peston because of his apparent bias. ‘Peston doesn’t think: he pontificates,’ says this source. ‘It’s time Ofcom looked again at some of his output.’

The Hon. Robert James Kenneth Peston — son of the late Labour peer Baron Peston — is one of television’s most identifiable political hacks. With his artfully floppy hair, unbuttoned shirts and bizarre whale-song vocal intonation, he has long divided opinion.

Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair’s foul-mouthed communications chief, used to mimic Peston’s habit of flicking his hair, and once scorned the young reporter for asking: ‘Another question from the Peston school of smart-a*** journalism.’

Peston cut his teeth as the political editor of the Financial Times, which has been a haven for Boris bashers and unrepentant Remoaners in recent years.

At the FT, he forged a lasting friendship with the fanatically pro-EU Roland Rudd, the boss of City PR firm Finsbury who was so devastated by the Brexit vote he set up the campaign group Open Britain to demand a second poll delivering the result he preferred. At the FT, this unlikely pair were known as ‘The Pest and The Rat’.

My Whitehall source says: ‘In his latest sneering outpourings, Peston says that “no eminent lawyer” is quoted by the Government in the Northern Ireland legislation. But the entire Bill has been before Suella Braverman QC, the Attorney General, who studied law at Cambridge.’

But it’s not just on Twitter that Peston’s apparent bias has shown itself.

On Monday, continuing his fury about Brexit, the 62-year-old moved from Twitter to ITV.com to declare: ‘This is all about the religious conviction of his [Boris’s] ultra-Brexiteer wing, the European Research Group, that Brexit should have expelled the European Court of Justice from every inch of the UK. In other words, all those tedious cancerous battles with the EU over sovereignty, that were supposed to be solved by Brexit, are still with us.

‘And they are set to cause the UK potentially serious economic harm when we can least afford it. Is this the fault of the bloomin’ Remainers who opposed leaving the EU? That would be an absurd claim, though I have heard it made by Brexiters. No, this mess can be laid at the door of those Brexiters who actually negotiated and agreed the terms of leaving the EU, and one politician in particular: the Prime Minister.’

Written for the channel's website, these nakedly partisan sentiments appear to drive a coach and horses through Ofcom’s code. This states that ‘news, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality’.

Partygate is another subject on which Peston seems to have shown his true colours. Take his article in The Spectator — headlined ‘This is a constitutional crisis’ — published on April 12, the day it was confirmed Boris had been fined £50 for attending an impromptu birthday party at No 10 during lockdown.

In a typically clunky sentence, Peston wrote: ‘If Tory MPs unthinkingly keep [Boris] in office without a proper and public assessment of how Parliament was misled, because that is what suits them, and if they blithely ignore the Ministerial Code, then the charge will stick that this or any party with a big majority is simply an elected dictatorship, and the constitution means little or nothing.’

He added: ‘This is not just a slippery slope. It is the bottom of the slope.’

Quite apart from the overblown language (‘elected dictatorship’), the bias is again clear. Note how Peston shifts from the general (‘the charge will stick’) to the specific: ‘It is the bottom of the slope.’

Shouldn’t this, too, be a matter for Ofcom?

An analysis of Peston’s social media accounts has shown that, in 2022 alone, he has tweeted more than 100 times about ‘parties’ and ‘Partygate’. Since many of these tweets are inevitably in ‘threads’ that allow Peston to explain his views in greater detail, the true number is in fact higher.

Yet, strangely for a man so evidently fascinated in the subject of Partygate, Peston said nothing when the police announced they were taking no further action against Boris on May 19.

Yet just 24 hours later he was back, complaining: ‘In Downing Street there is a sense of injustice and considerable upset that the 126 Partygate fines have been levied disproportionately on women and junior officials.’

And what of the ongoing police investigation into ‘Beergate’ in Durham in April 2020 involving Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner? There have been only one or two tweets from the scrupulously ‘impartial’ Robert Peston.

(For good measure, ITV News Editor Paul Brand had four mentions of Starmer’s lockdown-breaking beer and curry night in one Twitter thread, but has hammered away with no fewer than 158 tweets about Partygate.)

Even on Ukraine — an issue on which most in the UK have made up their minds — Peston has frequently taken the opportunity to attack Boris, calling an argument between the Prime Minister and his backbench critic Tobias Ellwood ‘jaw-dropping’.

He added: ‘[It] shows how little the Prime Minister and his advisers understand Putin and his ambitions.’ Boris, on video link, later became the first world leader to address the Ukraine Parliament. He’s been singled out for praise by Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky for being the first European leader to send arms to Kyiv.

In interviews last year to promote his novel about a scoop-hungry journalist, Peston said he has enjoyed exposing ‘pomposity and hypocrisy’ during his career. The irony seems to have been lost on him.

https://www.mailplus.co.uk/edition/comment/191795/robert-pestons-apparent-bias-is-dragging-itv-into-a-very-bad-place-says-whitehall-insider



Thursday, 11 March 2021

Blair Blames Brexit… for EU Vaccine Fiasco

 Vaccine passport proponent and ardent Remainer Tony Blair has blamed Brexit for the EU’s vaccine woes ...

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 21: Tony Blair, Former Prime Ministe attends the Global Citizen Forum - Beyond Boundaries Event at the annual 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 21, 2020 in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo by Remy Steiner/Getty Images for Global Citizen Forum)
Remy Steiner/Getty Images for Global Citizen Forum
3:23

Vaccine passport proponent and ardent Remainer Tony Blair has blamed Brexit for the EU’s vaccine woes, claiming that had not Britain left, the bloc would not be “ten weeks behind” in inoculating hundreds of millions of people.

The UK was able to take advantage of its independence from Brussels bureaucracy by launching its own vaccine procurement programmes, while the European Commission insisted on controlling contracts with drugs companies itself, on behalf of the whole bloc. In the case of AstraZeneca, the drugs firm said it signed a contract with Britain some three months before the EU, which had a knock-on effect on vaccine production at European plants.

According to Our World in Data, as of March 8th, 35.02 people per 100 have received at least their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the UK, compared to just 9.64 per 100 on average across the whole EU.

Speaking to Austrian weekly news magazine Profil, former Prime Minister Blair was forced to acknowledge that “Britain did an extremely good job on this one. First, a small vaccination task force was entrusted with the procurement of the vaccines. Then we were able to start vaccinating quickly and widely thanks to the centrally controlled public health service NHS.”

The prodigiously pro-Brussels, anti-Brexit Mr Blair went on to say that “the EU was less successful in comparison.”

The former prime minister was, however, reticent to credit Brexit for the UK’s inoculation progress, saying only that “the Brexit fans are now showing off the vaccination success.”

“You know that I am an avowed opponent of Brexit. It is and will remain a terrible strategic mistake for my country,” Blair said.

He then made the claim that “we could have done all of this within the EU. Conversely, I find it rather interesting what the EU is missing out on because Great Britain is no longer a member of the EU.”

Asked to clarify what he meant by that assertion, Blair implied that only Britain could have saved the EU from itself, acting to block the powerful executive arm, led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, from taking over vaccine procurement.

“If we British were still in the EU, the procurement of the vaccine would not have been taken out of the hands of the nation-states. Any British government would have insisted on that.

“That is the only reason why Europe is now ten weeks behind,” he said, in what appears to be an admission he believed the remaining 27 European nations could not adequately defend themselves against Brussels and demand their own vaccine autonomy.

Blair, who urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to lead the world in the push for a global vaccine passport system, predicted that “there will be some kind of certificate for sure” adding that he thought it would be “best if the whole world could agree on such a vaccination certificate”.

He dismissed concerns over discrimination against those who are not vaccinated and therefore not certified immune, claiming it would be “impossible to hold large events, concerts or football matches” without them.

Despite Britain’s success, Blair claimed that “you shouldn’t manage pandemics nationally”, saying instead nations should coordinate with “the whole world”, notably on “how we distribute the vaccine to everyone”.

 https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/03/11/blair-blames-brexit-for-eu-vaccine-fiasco/

Sunday, 3 January 2021

Tony Blair: I would have voted for Boris Johnson's post-Brexit trade deal

Tony Blair, who was one of the most prominent campaigners for a second referendum on EU membership, has said he would have backed Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels in the Commons. 

 




 © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The former prime minister revealed he would have supported the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who whipped his MPs to vote in favour of the prime minister’s agreement with the EU last week before the end of the transition period.

Starmer – who also backed remain during the 2016 vote as well as calling for a second referendum in 2019 while serving as the shadow Brexit secretary – faced pressure from his own party ranks over his decision to support the deal, despite criticising it as “thin”.

Three Labour junior frontbenchers resigned after defying Starmer and refusing to vote for the agreement. They were among 36 of the party’s MPs who abstained. One Labour MP went further and voted against the deal, which sailed through the parliamentary approval process on 30 December.

Starmer, who before becoming leader last year accepted that Johnson’s election victory at the end of 2019 “blew away” the case for a second Brexit referendum, had declared Labour’s support for the prime minister’s trade deal with the EU after an agreement was reached on Christmas Eve.

Asked if he would have voted for the deal in the Commons, Blair – among the most high-profile members of the remain camp during the 2016 Brexit referendum – told Times Radio on Sunday: “I would have backed the leader [Keir Starmer] on this. I mean, look, it’s a tactical question for the Labour party because the problem is … it’s open to your opponents to say that if you don’t back the deal, then you’re voting for no-deal.”

He continued: “I would have backed the leader on it. Look, there was a case for abstaining and there was a case for … voting for it because the alternative’s no-deal.”

He added: “I don’t think it particularly matters to the Labour party either way. I think what does matter is that we’re still in a position where we’re pointing out what the problems with this deal are.”

Separately, in a piece published on Sunday, Blair argued that though he was “passionately opposed” to Brexit and that he had not changed his mind about its “wisdom”, it was now “reality” and “we must make the best of it”.

Meanwhile, Johnson confirmed he would continue as prime minister after Brexit and sought to play down issues with red tape over trade after the UK formally severed ties with the EU following the end of the transition period at 11pm on Thursday.

“Of course, there are going to be changes and we’ve made that clear,” the prime minister told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, adding: “Actually, I think there’s a great opportunity for British SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and exporters of all kinds.”

He continued: “What we’ve seen is many companies in this country not exporting in the way that they could … the tragic reality of. .. business life is that there is some bureaucracy, we’re trying to remove it but we have a massive opportunity to expand our horizons and to think globally and to think big.”

Asked if he would carry on as prime minister after Brexit, Johnson said: “Yes.”

The prime minister added: “We now have freedoms that we haven’t had for 50 years and there are lots of reasons to be very positive about this otherwise grim new year.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/tony-blair-i-would-have-voted-for-boris-johnsons-post-brexit-trade-deal/

Saturday, 1 February 2020

Boris Johnson has 'got Brexit done' but will proceed with caution

The prime minister is hoping to buck the trend of leaders whose careers have been destroyed by the UK's relationship with Europe.


A pre-recorded message on Instagram was a very low-key way for Boris Johnson to celebrate getting Brexit done.
But as a journalist and historian he knows it is wise to proceed with caution.
Britain's relationship with Europe has destroyed the careers of more prime ministers than anything else since the Second World War.
We are now on our third occupant of Number 10 since the UK voted 52% to 48% to Leave back in June 2016.
Oddly it wasn't Europe but trade union disruption which did for Ted Heath, the passionate Conservative Europhile who took the UK into what was then called the European Economic Community, or EEC, back in 1973.
At that time the Conservatives were the party of Europe and Labour were its main opponents.
It took two elections for Harold Wilson to get Labour back into power in 1974 and considerable cunning to keep Britain in the community as he really wanted.

More from Brexit

Wilson boxed clever by holding a referendum to paper over the huge divisions in the country.
He was sure he would win and, unlike David Cameron 40 years later, he did.
More than two-thirds voted yes.
Thatcher was a leading campaigner for Europe back then.
But as she told me she loves a fight.
She won money back for Britain in a permanent rebate from the Brussels budget. In 1988 the British were the dominant force establishing the single market.
By now the ruling Conservative Party was split. Thatcher expressed her doubts about the direction Europe was taking in the Bruges speech. Then pro-Europeans led by Michael Heseltine and Geoffrey Howe forced her out. She departed denouncing further integration.
Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher and Shadow Trade Minister Michael Heseltine speaking at a rally organized by the Chamber of Trade, at Central Hall in Westminster, London, February 17th 1975. (Photo by Wesley/Keystone/Getty Images)
Margaret Thatcher (right) was forced out by pro-Europeans led by Michael Heseltine (left)
The new prime minister, John Major, took a softer approach, trying to balance both sides. He claimed game, set and match at the Maastricht negotiations opting Britain out of the single currency.
But months later the pound crashed out of the European exchange rate on Black Wednesday.
By now Major was fighting what he called "b*******" in and out of the cabinet, and he narrowly won re-election in 1995 when he put his leadership on the line in an attempt to reassert his authority.
Labour's Tony Blair swept to power in 1997. Blair was avowedly a pro-European but he allowed his chancellor Gordon Brown to persuade him against joining the next phase of EU integration, the Euro common currency.
After 9/11 European unity was shattered by Blair's decision to go to war shoulder to shoulder with the Americans, something French President Jacques Chirac opposed loudly.
Meanwhile Britain was one of the only countries not to impose limits on migration from the new member states in Eastern Europe. Nearly three million came into the country in the first decade of the century.
New Labour promised but did not hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Instead Brown refused to join in celebrations and tried to sign it in private.



Jacques Chirac, right, was against Tony Blair's decision to go to war with the US
Jacques Chirac (right) was against Tony Blair's (left) decision to go to war alongside the US
By the time Cameron came to power in 2010, the majority of Conservative activists were Eurosceptic, some clamouring for a referendum. Cameron held off the calls for his first term thanks to the coalition government with the Liberal Democrats.
In 2015 he won an outright majority and faced delivering on his promise. UKIP - who Cameron had once dismissed as fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists - was surging.
Cameron called an in/out referendum. His side had won a referendum against Scottish independence the previous year and expected to win again. He was wrong.
David Cameron  campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum
David Cameron campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum
Boris Johnson threw his charisma behind the Leave campaign and on 23 June 2016 a majority voted to leave the European Union.
Cameron quit immediately. Theresa May took over. She struggled for three years to deliver on the referendum, saying "Brexit means Brexit" over and over again.
But the Supreme Court agreed with Gina Miller, the pro-Remain businesswoman, that parliament should have the final say and it became impossible for May to win over MPs after she lost her majority in a snap general election. Rampant Tory backbenchers in the European research group made her tearful exit inevitable.
Now Johnson has ridden Brexit all the way to Number 10 Downing Street.
He's "got Brexit done" as he promised, if not quite on time. He'll be hoping to buck the trend and pull off a happy European ending for himself and the 
country.

Wednesday, 22 January 2020

Brexit backlash: Why arch-Remainer Philip Hammond blamed Tony Blair for EU exit

BREXIT has left Remainers scouring for answers as to why the country made its decision to leave the EU. One arch-europhile, Conservative Philip Hammond, launched a damning take at former Prime Minister Tony Blair, claiming his immigration policy had provoked voters' 2016 decision.

Speaking at the 2017 World Economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, the then Chancellor took aim at Mr , claiming the former Labour Party leader's failure to control the amount of eastern European workers fuelled anti-immigration sentiment in the UK. Mr  said: "There clearly was a strong strand of feeling against uncontrolled migration. And I lay the responsibility for that squarely at the door of Prime Minister Blair who failed to impose transitional regime in the UK in 2004.
“So while other countries in Europe smoothly transitioned the A8 members [Accession 8] and the freedom of movement from A8 members Britain took the full force of the tide in 2004, and that created a public perception which we still haven’t shaken off to this day.”
Mr Hammond also highlighted that while Britain had voted to leave, the decision was not a rejection of immigration entirely, but a longing for control over borders.
He added: “It is very important to the British people that we control our borders, but most of them do not want to use that control to shut the borders, they simply want to have control."
Brexit news:
Brexit news: (Image: getty)
Brexit news:
Brexit news: Hammond blamed Blair for Brexit (Image: getty)
The former MP for Runnymede and Weybridge also said that, with Britain aiming to depart the and its Single Market, this would not necessarily result in no migration, as the UK would still look for "skilled-workers".
He added: “What we’ve said clearly is that we cannot accept the principle of free movement. We can’t accept that any more.
“Don’t kneecap your best asset. Let us thrive, make sure that immigration policies tell the world that Britain is open and welcoming to the best most entrepreneurial, energetic talent from all over, without restraint and constraint.”
The assessment made by Mr Hammond was also supported by former European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.
In November 2019, Mr Juncker said that Mr Blair's approach to European integration contributed to the Brexit vote.
He said that “my friend” Mr Blair was among politicians who “wanted nothing to do with the EU” as a project.
He added: “When it came to the political union, to moving closer together, they wanted nothing to do with the EU. That was even the case with my friend Tony Blair. If you stick to that narrative for over 40 years, it should not come as a surprise when people remember it during the referendum.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1231920/brexit-news-arch-remainer-philip-hammond-blamed-tony-blair-for-eu-exit-spt

Sunday, 29 December 2019

Blair sought EU funding to attempt to block Brexit


Tony Blair tried to get EU funding while trying to subvert democracy and stop Brexit. 

The war criminal should be keeping his head down, not be looking to do dodgy deals with the EU.

 29 Dec 2019




Blair sought EU funding to attempt to block Brexit

https://twitter.com/LeaveEUOfficial

Wednesday, 18 December 2019

Labour MPs savage Jeremy Corbyn and his 'economically illiterate' policies

18 Dec 2019 Labour MPs savage Jeremy Corbyn and his 'economically illiterate' policies in fiery Commons meeting and tell him every day he stays harms the party more - before Tony Blair says party needs 'not just a new driver but a new bus'
  • Labour's remaining MPs all confronted the outgoing opposition leader last night
  • They dismissed claim the election defeat was down to Brexit and media hostility
  • Mr Corbyn faced intense criticism, only a handful of ultra loyalists defending him
  • Rachel Reeves told him problem 'was you' and 'economically illiterate' manifesto

Labour former and current MPs turn on Corbyn 

Rachel Reeves: 'I said to Jeremy you can make all the excuses in the world... but the big drag on support in the election was him and his leadership.' 
Mary Creagh: 'We have in Jeremy a man without honour and without shame - and a type of preening narcissism that means he thinks he's still got something left to offer the Labour movement.' 
Jess Phillips: 'There were lots of complaints about how nobody had called the people who lost.' 
Dame Margaret Hodge: 'On the whole it was fury, despair, miserable... and I just felt that the top table were in total denial.' 
David Lammy: 'I have faith, I go to church on a Sunday, but can I make a plea that we keep the faith there and end this faith-based cult once and for all.'
Ian Murray (sarcastically): 'I'm going back to Scotland to prepare for government.' 
Labour MPs vented their fury at Jeremy Corbyn last night in a volcanic Commons meeting, placing blame for their election humiliation on him and his 'economically illiterate' manifesto.
Mary Creagh, the former Labour MP for Wakefield, also collared Mr Corbyn outside Parliament, blasting him for his election performance and telling him to stand down immediately, while adding that every day he stays as leader is damaging to the party.  
Last night was the first time Mr Corbyn had faced his 202 remaining MPs since their crushing defeat by Boris Johnson's Tories and they tore him to shreds in a fiery meeting. 
Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves told Mr Corbyn that he was to blame for the election humiliation, describing his manifesto as 'economically illiterate' and saying the party needed radical change and a leader that 'actually wants to win'.
Rebellious MPs also dismissed Mr Corbyn's claims that the defeat - the party's worst since 1935 - was down to Brexit and media hostility.
Mr Corbyn apologised to the fractious meeting, but failed to win them over, with veteran critic Dame Margaret Hodge describing the meeting as 'on the whole it was fury, despair, miserable'.
Tony Blair also spoke of the election result this morning, saying: 'Labour needs not just a different driver, but a different bus.
'This election was no ordinary defeat for Labour. It marks a moment in history. The choice for Labour is to renew itself as the serious, progressive, non-Conservative competitor for power in British politics – or retreat from such an ambition, in which case over time it will be replaced.'
In a two-hour meeting, MPs also said the leadership contest should focus on who could win over the country, rather than party members.
Mr Corbyn swore in as an MP again this afternoon - but 59 former Labour MPs who were beaten last week did not
Mr Corbyn swore in as an MP again this afternoon - but 59 former Labour MPs who were beaten last week did not
Mr Corbyn came under heavy fire from his MPs, as he apologised to them for the party's election mauling
Mr Corbyn came under heavy fire from his MPs, as he apologised to them for the party's election mauling
Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves tore into him at the meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) saying the problem 'was you' and the 'economically illiterate' manifesto
Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves tore into him at the meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) saying the problem 'was you' and the 'economically illiterate' manifesto
Jess Phillips - who some believe could now run to replace Mr Corbyn, told reporters she had read out a text to him from Melanie Onn, who lost Great Grimsby, which was 'about how she had been let down by the leadership'
Jess Phillips - who some believe could now run to replace Mr Corbyn, told reporters she had read out a text to him from Melanie Onn, who lost Great Grimsby, which was 'about how she had been let down by the leadership'
Ex-Wakefield MP Mary Creagh (pictured on election night) said she confronted the outgoing Labour leader and told to 'apologise for what he'd done', after spotting him in parliament
Ex-Wakefield MP Mary Creagh (pictured on election night) said she confronted the outgoing Labour leader and told to 'apologise for what he'd done', after spotting him in parliament
Only a handful of ultra loyalists attempted to defend the party leader, who has already announced he will quit in the new year. 

Tony Blair gives stark warning on the future of Labour 

Tony Blair today delivered a lacerating verdict on Jeremy Corbyn's 'comical' leadership and branded Labour a 'cult' - as he finally admitted defeat on Brexit.
The former PM, who won three elections, tore into his successor for turning the party into a 'glorified protest movement'.
He said the astonishing rout at the hands of the Tories last week - the worst performance since 1935 - was a source of 'shame', warning that Labour faces total destruction if it does not evict the hard-Left.
In a stark message to Remainers, Mr Blair drew a line under years of trying to reverse Brexit. 'We have lost,' he said.
The vicious attack came as Mr Corbyn and his extremist clique of advisers faced massive pressure to stand aside immediately in the wake of the battering from voters.
There are mounting fears among moderates that the leader and his allies are clinging on to try to control the contest for his replacement - and confirm the icy grip of the Left on the UK's main opposition party.
Mr Blair put Mr Corbyn on notice that his planned 'process of reflection' before standing down as leader in the new year will cause 'irreparable damage' if it buries the real reasons for the December 12 humiliation.
Mr Blair, who is the only Labour leader to have won a general election in the last 45 years, gave a speech this morning as he published a damning report on the party's failure in the election.
It criticises the 'sectarian ultra-left politics' that have taken over the party, blaming Mr Corbyn for driving away traditional supporters and says: 'Labour needs not just a different driver, but a different bus.'
Mr Blair told an audience in central London that the result 'marks a moment in history' and was 'no ordinary defeat for Labour' as the party undergoes a battle to replace Mr Corbyn and diagnose the causes of the disaster.
'The choice for Labour is to renew itself as the serious, progressive, non-Conservative competitor for power in British politics, or retreat from such an ambition, in which case over time it will be replaced,' he is expected to add.

Speaking to reporters later outside Ms Reeves added: 'I said to Jeremy you can make all the excuses in the world... but the big drag on support in the election was him and his leadership.' 
It came after Jeremy Corbyn was cornered by one of his former MPs today who tore into him after seeing him casually posing for selfies in Parliament despite overseeing Labour's catastrophic election humiliation. 
Ex-Wakefield MP Mary Creagh said she confronted the outgoing Labour leader and told to 'apologise for what he'd done', after spotting him in parliament while in the building to clear out her office.
She described giving him the 'hairdryer' after spotting him in Portcullis House posing for selfies with young people, she told the Times, telling him 'he shouldn't be having his photo taken with young people because he had betrayed their future'. 
Speaking to Channel 4, she added: 'We have in Jeremy a man without honour and without shame - and a type of preening narcissism that means he thinks he's still got something left to offer the Labour movement.'
The former MP, who saw her 2,000 majority overturned to lose Wakefield by more than 3,000 votes, said she told Mr Corbyn he had run a disastrous and chaotic election campaign, overseen a 'joke' manifesto and alienated Labour's natural supporters.
She demanded that he step down immediately, saying it was wrong for him to stay in his job while she had been forced to make her Commons staff redundant.
'I told him it was his sole decision to call the election without even consulting the Shadow Cabinet and as a result of that decision he has delivered the hardest possible Brexit,' she said.
'I told him to come to Wakefield to apologise for five more years of Tory austerity and five years of a Tory MP. It was a hairdryer moment.' 
Miss Creagh – who served in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet – said Labour's election campaign had been run by 'ideologues' and revealed that she had been facing attempts to remove her as a candidate on the day the election was called.
She said the party had concentrated on fighting for seats held by Tories while leaving sitting Labour MPs without support.
'His Momentum activists were being sent to places like Stevenage and Scarborough where the Tories had big majorities while good Labour MPs were struggling to get activists,' she said. 







Ms Creagh added: 'We have in Jeremy a man without honour and without shame - and a type of preening narcissism that means he thinks he's still got something left to offer the Labour movement'
Ms Creagh added: 'We have in Jeremy a man without honour and without shame - and a type of preening narcissism that means he thinks he's still got something left to offer the Labour movement'
Siobhain McDonagh MP and Former Labour MP Mary Creagh criticises Jeremy Corbyn after she lost her seat in the election
Siobhain McDonagh MP and Former Labour MP Mary Creagh criticises Jeremy Corbyn after she lost her seat in the election
Ms Creagh said she had seen Mr Corbyn taking selfies with young people (pictured is the Labour leader posing with activists and Labour candidate Hannah O'Neill on October 31)
Ms Creagh said she had seen Mr Corbyn taking selfies with young people (pictured is the Labour leader posing with activists and Labour candidate Hannah O'Neill on October 31)
Jess Phillips - who some believe could run to replace Mr Corbyn - told reporters she had read out a text to him from Melanie Onn, who lost Great Grimsby. 

Keir Starmer throws his hat into the Labour leadership ring and calls for the party to return to a 'broad church'

Sir Keir Starmer attempted to woo Corbynite Labour members today as he set out his stall to replace Jeremy Corbyn as party leader.
The Remainer shadow Brexit secretary revealed he is 'seriously considering' entering the leadership race that will take place in the new year.
Distrusted by hard left fans of Mr Corbyn, he set out his stall to be a unity candidate, attacking 'factionalism' and saying the party needed to include both Momentum and fans of Tony Blair.
But he dangled a carrot in front of Corbynites, saying he did not want the party to move too far rightwards.
He said he did not want a return to the era of Tony Blair, telling the BBC this morning: 'I don't need someone else's name tattooed on my head to make decisions.'
It comes as centrists and Corbynites alike fight over the soul of the party in the wake of last week's car crash election result.
Yvette Cooper, who was a shadow minister under Gordon Brown, also revealed today she is considering a run at the top job.
But she is likely to face widespread opposition from the left of the party because of her link with the party's period in government.
The bookies' favourite, Sir Keir, 57, is yet to formally announce his candidacy, but opened up on where Labour went wrong in the election and what they must do to overturn their heavy defeat.
'It was about how she had been let down by the leadership... and nobody had bothered with Grimsby,' Ms Phillips said.
'There were lots of complaints about how nobody had called the people who lost.' 
Long-term Corbyn critic Dame Margaret Hodge said there was 'corporate amnesia'. 
She told reporters: 'on the whole it was fury despair miserable... and I just felt that the top table were in total denial.' 
Dame Margaret Beckett, a former foreign secretary, said that the party now had to ask itself the same question it asked after a third successive defeat in 1992: what do the public want?
David Lammy, another potential leadership contender, said: 'I have faith, I go to church on a Sunday, but can I make a plea that we keep the faith there and end this faith-based cult once and for all.'
Edinburgh South's Ian Murray, one of Labour's few remaining Scottish MPs, said it was 'great, fantastic'. 
'I'm going back to Scotland to prepare for government,' he joked to reporters outside.
And Huddersfield's Barry Sheerman told the meeting Labour could not afford to 'go back out there and do the same thing again' and expect a different result. 
Clive Efford, the MP for Eltham, who leads the Tribune group of mainly 'soft-left' Labour MPs, was another who slammed Mr Corbyn.
He said that when the ballot boxes from polling stations for council estates were opened at his count they were '50-50' between him and the Conservative candidate.
Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell, meanwhile, read out the list of seats lost in the north east and said they had not been given enough support. 
Lloyd Russell-Moyle said Labour MPs' criticism of Mr Corbyn centred on his leadership, his Brexit position and his manifesto for lacking an 'overarching narrative'.
'Not one person said go right now. They all recognise that he has apologised and that he wants to go as soon as possible, and that the duty was to save the party and do it in an orderly way,' the Brighton Kemptown MP told PA.
'People were emotional - very emotional.
Mr Corbyn told MPs: 'I am very sorry for the result for which I take responsibility.
'I will continue to lead the party until a new leader is elected. I want us to have the smoothest possible transition for the sake of the party as a whole and for those Labour mayors and councillors who are up for re-election in May.'
Mr Corbyn maintained his defence that Brexit was a major reason voters lost their trust in Labour and repeated his criticism of the media.
'The Tory campaign amplified by most of the media managed to persuade many that only Boris Johnson could 'get Brexit done'. That will soon be exposed for the falsehood it is,' he said.
'We need to go to places where we lost and genuinely listen to what people want and what they believe is possible.'
Mr Corbyn also told his MPs to vote against Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, because it imposes an 'impossible timetable' to get a 'good' trade deal with the EU by the end of the transition period.
And his supporter Claudia Webbe, the new Leicester East MP, was mocked with a sarcastic cheer after ranting about being the the only party not offering 'poverty' and then adding 'but we lost the election.' 
She also claimed there was 'lots to celebrate'.
Webbe and Kate Osborne, the new MP for Jarrow, were the only ones to support Mr Corbyn.  
Speaking to reporters on the way in, Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell asked reporters: 'We're irrelevant. Why do you give a f***?'
Speaking to reporters on the way in to the PLP meeting, Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell asked reporters: 'We're irrelevant. Why do you give a f***?'
Speaking to reporters on the way in to the PLP meeting, Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell asked reporters: 'We're irrelevant. Why do you give a f***?'
Mr Corbyn is understood to have told his MPs to vote against Boris Johnson's Brexit Bill because the Prime Minister has imposed an 'impossible' timetable to get a trade deal with the EU.

Tories are now the working-class party, says new analysis of election 

Working class communities deserted Jeremy Corbyn and Labour in huge numbers after Boris Johnson's vow to  get Brexit done, a damning new election analysis shows today.
The Tories won over the DE social class made up of the unemployed and unskilled workers by 13 points, an astonishing gulf for a Conservative leader.
The lead, 47 per cent to 34 per cent -  swallowed up Jeremy Corbyn's three point advantage among the same group in the 2017 election.
And it also dwarfs the eight point lead that Ed Miliband enjoyed in 2015, which prompted his resignation as Labour leader.  
In more bad news for Mr Corbyn, who announced plans to step down in the new year after hemorrhaging support last Thursday, his leadership failed to generate a hoped-for 'youthquake' at the election as younger voters flocked to the Tories at an ever younger age.
The average age of the Tory/Labour crossover, when more people vote for the Conservatives than the opposition, plummeted to 39 last week, down from 47 two years ago. 
'On Friday, we have the debate on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB),' he is understood to have told the PLP.
'We will vote against it because by putting an impossible timetable for a good deal with the EU, Boris Johnson has already shown that his priority is a toxic deal with Donald Trump that will sell out our NHS and risk the safety of our food.
'And the WAB significantly risks undermining the Good Friday Agreement.'
MPs returned to Westminster with the party in turmoil following its worst election performance since 1935.
Some furious MPs and defeated candidates have angrily pointed the finger of blame at Mr Corbyn, saying his past record and left-wing policies were poison on the doorstep.
But allies of the Labour leader have said divisions within the party over Brexit proved impossible to bridge while he was 'demonised' by the media.
Mr Corbyn has said he will stand down following a 'process of reflection' - with a new leader expected to be in place by the end of March.
Ms Creagh, who became Wakefield MP in 2005, lost the Yorkshire seat to Conservative Imran Ahmad-Khan by more than 3,000 votes in Labour's northern collapse on Thursday.
It is the first time the seat has been in Tory hands since the 1930s.
She added: 'I told him it was his sole decision to call the election without even consulting the shadow cabinet and as a result of that decision he has delivered the hardest possible Brexit,' she said. 

Sir Lindsay Hoyle is sworn in as the new Commons Speaker

No-nonsense new Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle signalled a break with the era of his predecessor John Bercow today as he warned party leaders returning to the Commons not to talk too much.
The direct Lancastrian took the chair after being re-elected unopposed, having been Speaker for just two days before Parliament was dissolved for the general election.
Mr Bercow, who stood down in October after 10 years, became known for allowing MPs to drone on for hours in the Commons.
But Sir Lindsay stamped his authority on the chamber this afternoon after being ceremonially dragged to the Speaker's chair, to cheers from both sides of the house.
'Before I call the Prime Minister can I just say we have a very busy day ahead of us,' he said.
'I therefore encourage short speeches from party leaders and discourage other members from trying to catch my eye.
Avuncular Sir Lindsay was an immediate favourite for the role of Commons' referee when Mr Bercow - with whom he had a strained relationship - announced he was stepping down after 10 years in the chair.
Both sides of the house appreciate his even-handedness - in contrast with Mr Bercow's Remainer loyalties.
Sir Lindsay is known for having a pet parrot called Boris and a tortoise called Maggie.
But he has also suffered great tragedy in his life: his daughter, Natalie Lewis-Hoyle, was found dead in her bedroom just before Christmas 2017, aged 28.
'I told him to come to Wakefield to apologise for five more years of Tory austerity and five years of a Tory MP. It was a hairdryer moment.' 
Labour lost a swathe of northern and Midlands seats last Thursday, leaving it with just 202 MPs and handing a landslide win to Mr Johnson.
The stage is set for a battle royale within the party between those who want to carry Mr Corbyn's legacy and others who want a clean break and a more centrist message.
It came as it emerged today that shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry warned privately three months ago that her party would suffer in the General Election by taking a neutral stance on Brexit.
She told the Labour conference in Brighton in September that leader Jeremy Corbyn saying he 'did not have a view' on leaving the European Union could be disastrous.
The 59-year-old Shadow Foreign Secretary was said to have been 'really pushing' for Labour to openly back Remain, according to a BBC documentary on tonight.
The programme, The Brexit Storm Continues: Laura Kuenssberg's Inside Story, on BBC Two at 9pm tonight, includes a recording of her speaking at the conference.
She said: 'I think Jeremy is trying to find a compromise but if he goes into an election saying 'I don't have a view' on the single biggest decision that we have to make. 
'I think - what worries me is that every single interview he does will all be about Brexit.'
Asked if this would affect Labour's election chances, she said: 'Well, I think it makes it more difficult and that's why I'm really pushing this because I want Jeremy in No 10.'
 
The hard-Left daughter of a docker and the 39-year-old grandmother who calls herself 'Grangela': How the 'dream ticket' of Rebecca Long-Bailey and her friend Angela Rayner could cement the Corbynite hold on Labour

One is the hard-Left daughter of a Salford docker, groomed to take the helm of the Corbynite project by self-declared Marxist John McDonnell.
And the other is a flame-haired 39-year-old grandmother whose own socialist credentials were forged by a tough upbringing as a carer to her bipolar mother aged just 10, before becoming pregnant at 16. 
Rebecca Long-Bailey and her best friend Angela Rayner - who share a flat in Westminster - have both been tipped to replace the embattled leader. 
But they have come to an accommodation amid fears that they will split the Left's support, and put the party back in the hands of centrists hoping to make it electable.
Ms Long-Bailey, 40, is set to run for the top job when Mr Corbyn finally stands down, while there are increasingly strong indications that Ms Rayner will pitch to be her deputy. 
The 'dream ticket' for the party's two most powerful elected posts would be a formidable challenge for any moderates.  
Ms Rayner, who has been MP for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015, has drawn heavily on her time as a one-time struggling teenage mother - and proudly welcomed her own granddaughter at the age of just 37 with a tweet jokingly referring to herself as 'Grangela'. 
The married mother-of-three was just 16 when she had her first son, Ryan, and has told how becoming pregnant so young 'saved' her.
Her teenage relationship with Ryan's father ended quickly and she has since married Unison official Mark Rayner.
But speaking at a Labour Party fringe event in September, she said it was her ambition to be a good mother which has driven her. 
She said:  'Because I had a little person that I had to look after and I wanted to prove to everybody I wasn't the scumbag they thought I was going to be, and I could be a good mum, and that somebody was finally going to love me as much as I deserved to be loved.
'And that's what pregnancy was for me, it saved me.'
Her children are 'in a much better position than I ever had, and my mum could only have dreamed of having a daughter that got to where I am today', she said.
And she added: 'That's social mobility.'
Two of Jeremy Corbyn's chief lieutenants Rebecca Long-Bailey (left) and Angela Rayner (right) are tipped to be a shoe-in to replace the embattled leader
Two of Jeremy Corbyn's chief lieutenants Rebecca Long-Bailey (left) and Angela Rayner (right) are tipped to be a shoe-in to replace the embattled leader 
In the wake of Labour's worst electoral defeat since the 1930s, Rebecca Long-Bailey (left) and Angela Rayner (right) are tipped to take the reins of the bruised and battered party after the flatmates formed the 'dream' ticket
In the wake of Labour's worst electoral defeat since the 1930s, Rebecca Long-Bailey (left) and Angela Rayner (right) are tipped to take the reins of the bruised and battered party after the flatmates formed the 'dream' ticket
Ms Rayner dropped out of school aged 16 pregnant with son Ryan
Her youngest son Charlie was premature, and Rayner credits NHS staff with saving him
Ms Rayner dropped out of school aged 16 pregnant with son Ryan (left).  He now has his own little girl, who is two -years old, making Ms Rayner a grandmother when she was just 37. Her youngest son Charlie (right) was premature, and Rayner credits NHS staff with saving him
Ms Rayner's husband Mark is a trade union officer and the couple have two children - Jimmy, 11, and Charlie, 10
Ms Rayner's husband Mark is a trade union officer and the couple have two children - Jimmy, 11, and Charlie, 10
Ms Rayner proudly welcomed her own granddaughter at the age of just 37, and tweeted jokingly referring to herself as 'Grangela'
Ms Rayner proudly welcomed her own granddaughter at the age of just 37, and tweeted jokingly referring to herself as 'Grangela'
Meanwhile Ms Long-Bailey, 40, grew up in Old Trafford, Manchester, where she was exposed to left-wing politics from a young age.
Her father Jimmy worked as a docker at Salford Quays and trade union representative at Shell at a time when workers' collectives wielded enormous power and threats of staff walkouts struck fear into ministers. 
On graduating from a Catholic high school, she worked in a pawn shop - an eye-opening experience which she says taught her 'more about the struggles of life than any degree or qualification ever could'.
After holding down other jobs such as a call-centre operator, a furniture factory worker and a postwoman, she eventually studied to become a solicitor, which she 
Six months after Ms Long-Bailey was born - only eight miles away in Stockport - Ms Rayner was also born. 
Her politics was also shaped by her early life, being forced to drop out of school aged 16 with no qualifications after becoming pregnant, which she said was the best thing which could have happened to her.
'I was in the Manchester nightclub scene at 13 and thought affection from men - the wrong type of affection - was the right thing,' she told the Spectator.
'I lost about six friends before I was 18. They died through a drug overdose, or killed in a car, joy-riding. 
'But once I got pregnant it wasn't just my life I was messing around with. I had somebody to look after.'
Ms Long-Bailey, 40, grew up in Old Trafford, Manchester, near the football stadium, where her father Jimmy worked as a docker at Salford Quays
Ms Long-Bailey, 40, grew up in Old Trafford, Manchester, near the football stadium, where her father Jimmy worked as a docker at Salford Quays
Ms Rayner and husband Mark
Ms Rayner with son Ryan
Her family (Mark left, Ryan right) lives in her Manchester constituency, which Ms Rayner has represented since 2015
Living on a Stockport council estate with her baby son Ryan, she continued to tie down a job in a care home to keep her independence.
This steeliness was developed earlier in her life when she was forced to look after her bipolar mother, whose mental state left the family struggling to make ends meet.
A lack of breakfast meant she would go to school hungry and zero books in the house meant she was not able to further her education at home. 
Eternally grateful for New Labour's welfare state allowing her to go back to college to sit her exams, while raging that the Tories' social care system failed her mother, Ms Rayner's upbringing has made her fiercely in favour of state interventionism.
While her future best friend Ms Long-Bailey embarked on a legal career, Ms Rayner became a trade union representative, fast rising to be the most senior Unison official in the North West.  
Her husband Mark is also a trade union officer and the couple have two children - Jimmy, 11, and Charlie, 10.
The duo quickly established themselves as ones to watch in the new Labour era of Corbynism, with Ms Long-Bailey catching the eye of another docker's child - the shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell
The duo quickly established themselves as ones to watch in the new Labour era of Corbynism, with Ms Long-Bailey catching the eye of another docker's child - the shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell 
In 2016 Ms Rayner - who had at this point moved in with Ms Long Bailey - also joined Labour's top team as shadow education secretary (pictured last month during the election campaign)
In 2016 Ms Rayner - who had at this point moved in with Ms Long Bailey - also joined Labour's top team as shadow education secretary (pictured last month during the election campaign)
Her family lives in her Manchester constituency, like Ms Long-Bailey's who has one child with her husband Steve. 
Both women were elected to represent Manchester constituencies in Parliament on May 7 2015 on the back of all-women selection processes.
The two young mothers became fast friends, and two years ago Ms Rayner even became a grandmother, nicknaming herself 'Grangela'. 
The duo quickly established themselves as ones to watch in the new Labour era of Corbynism, with Ms Long-Bailey catching the eye of another docker's child - the shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell.
This alliance would prove useful to Ms Long-Bailey, who was first to get a foot on the career ladder after being promoted to shadow treasury minister that September, before taking up the shadow business secretary post soon after.
In 2016 Ms Rayner - who had at this point moved in with Ms Long Bailey - also joined Labour's top team as shadow education secretary. 
The duo were front and centre of Labour's disastrous campaign, with both taking part in televised debates in strong performances seen as an audition for the leadership.      
In the wake of Labour's worst electoral defeat since the 1930s, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Angela Rayner are tipped to take the reins of the bruised and battered party after the flatmates formed a 'dream' ticket. 
Rayner says many thought 'she was not a great role model'
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
0:00
Previous
Play
Skip
Mute
Current Time0:00
/
Duration Time0:27
Fullscreen
Need Text
The post-election fallout which saw Jeremy Corbyn quit and trigger a leadership ballot had seen both shadow business secretary Ms Long-Bailey and shadow education secretary Ms Rayner touted as possible successors.
But adamant for their friendship not to be ripped apart by the inevitable mudslinging of a leadership contest, Ms Rayner has stepped aside to give her best friend a clear shot at the title, instead offering to serve as her loyal deputy.
Precedent, however, is not on their side and nagging in the back of their minds will be the infamous deal struck by parliamentary roommates Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, whose relationship quickly soured into conniving against one another. 
Yet in a TV interview last year, Ms Long-Bailey flatly dismissed any rumours of a deal between the pair.
She said: 'No, no, Angela is one of my best friends, we actually live together in London and the main conversation comes down to what we're going to have for tea rather than what we're going to do in the future.'   
In the coming months, the pair could be on the road once more fighting what will be a bitter leadership campaign against the party's moderates who are vying to wrestle back control from the hard-left - who want to rediscover the electoral successes of Blair and Brown.