Tony Blair!

Can't help thinking that if his brother had won the leadership election Labout would be streets ahead in the polls by now. Ed seems to be a liability.

Reading this thread, just what the hell does Milliband think he's going to achieve - I think he's desperate or deluded if he considers it a good move!

On local BBC tonight Ed Milliband was asked why his picture isn't on the pamphlets Labour have been handing out - he seemed to be unaware and had to bluster his way out.......oh dear.....

I don't imagine Blair's someone who would take kindly to being 'told to keep out'!

I agree, Eloethan. I thought he had been told to keep out of the election by those at the top of the Labour Party.

Well put, Eloethan.

j01book He didn't take Labour "out of the dark ages" - the so-called "modernisation" ditched many of the firmly held principles upon which the Labour Party had been built and represented a significant lurch to the right

In the hope of keeping big business on side and our predominantly Conservative-supporting right wing press off Labour's back, significant concessions were made to big business and the finance sector. Although the Labour Party did not loosen the regulations to the degree that the Conservatives called for, they did nevertheless reduce regulation - the consequences of which we all know.

The PFI deals were a huge mistake but I can just about accept that they were a response to the very difficult situation that the Conservatives left behind - schools and hospitals falling down and the sort of waiting lists/A&E stories that we are seeing again now.

What I and many Labour voters can never forgive Blair for is kow towing to Bush by taking Britain into Iraq on a false premise, which has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the destabilisation of the Middle East. It certainly has not made the world a safer place.

He is a very unpopular man, even amongst Labour voters, and one wonders why he would think it helpful to wade in on behalf of Miliband. Perhaps he wasn't trying to be helpful.

I'd better not post what I think!

It would be on the lines of Rosequartz view but expanded and certainly not as polite .

"Business for New Europe (BNE) said a vote to quit the EU could force some companies that use Britain as a European base to leave the UK. The group warned that businesses will hold back on investment in Britain because of the uncertainty created by the prospect of the referendum.

Business leaders on BNE’s advisory council include Sir Michael Rake, the chairman of BT, Chris Gibson-Smith, the chairman of the London Stock Exchange, and Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland. BNE is non-partisan and campaigns for Britain to stay in a less bureaucratic EU."

The chairman of the London Stock Exchange should carry some weight.

Agree with you, vampire. I was a Labour voter before he took over.
However, there is a group of business leaders which has backed him.
The chairman of BT is among them.

Grannyknot!!

Apologies for the misplaced comma after 'now'!!

I don't really like or dislike him. In his defence, surely he brought Labour out of the dark ages? Didn't the Country need a New Labour Party? I admit his downfall was the spending surge of a huge Conservative "pot" that brought the country (via Brown) to the edge of ruin and of course Iraq. He gambled on MWD which they could not find.

My son used to have a T-shirt that read "Tony B.Liar" ...

I agree, this will do Ed no good at all. Who thought it was 'A Good Idea'?

Blue Sky Thinking (head in the clouds more like).

I can't stand the man. Never could and I'm a Labour voter.

PS And I'm not a Tory, either! Just a floater looking for a home.

As Middle East Peace Envoy he's been either conspicuous by his absence or a first class disaster, IMO.

He's definitely become persona non grata, hasn't he? The situation in the middle east is a disaster and the dodgy dossier did him no good at all. Whatever is Ed Milliband thinking of? He should distance himself from TB immediately. No, it will not encourage me to vote Labour.

I can't believe they've wheeled him out .

Middle East Peace Envoy? Don't make me laugh

Probably terrified that when this job finishes (ie Middle East 'Peace' Envoy for which he created the opening) there won't be a job for him as President of Europe if we do leave the EU
Always looks to the main chance

That man! Don't start me off! IMO he ruined this country. I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.

Even less likely, can't stand the man or his politics-as for his wife...........