Is Tony Blair too toxic to shape the future of Labour?

The former prime minister is trying to save the party he loves. But, writes Sean O'Grady, that doesn’t mean anyone is listening

Blair speaks at King’s College London yesterday (PA)

It is strange indeed to see history repeating itself with such symmetry. During the 1980s and 1990s Gordon Brown and Tony Blair were two brilliant and ambitious young Labour MPs determined to turn their party of perennial protest into a natural party of government. They fought and argued their way to the 1997 landslide. They won three elections in a row, an unprecedented achievement, and both served as prime minister – two of only six leaders from their party to occupy No 10.

Now, almost a decade since Labour fell from power the pendulum has come full circle. Last year the party sunk to its lowest ebb since 1983 (when Brown and Blair entered parliament), or even 1935. Now these two architects of New Labour, whatever their rows and arguments along the way, are once again trying to save the party they love – urging the membership to once again shift from that mindset of resistance and protest and to address the central issues concerning most voters most of the time, as the best way to win power again. But is anyone listening?

The auguries don’t seem encouraging. Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was almost defined by its renunciation of Blairism and its illegal war in Iraq. Many Labour MPs and members view the Blair-Brown years as a failure – a futile acceptance of Thatcherism and casino capitalism at the expense of working people. Real social breakthroughs are ignored, minimised or forgotten. It was sometimes said that Corbyn would have been happy to see Blair arraigned for war crimes. Many in his party agreed.