For the sake of his (admittedly tenuous) relationship with the left, Tony Blair must hope that a man is not judged by his friends. After Silvio Berlusconi backed Blair to become the first president of Europe, Rupert Murdoch’s intellectual guru, Irwin Stelzer, today adds his support to the campaign.
Stelzer’s endorsement of Blair in the Guardian is likely to prompt cries of “Betrayal!” from Bill Cash et al. He writes:
I yield to no one in my dislike of the unaccountable, kleptocratic bureaucracy and its appropriation to itself of the prerogatives of parliament. But you lost that fight when your prime minister reneged on his promise of a referendum and signed the constitution — er, treaty. The EU’s interest, which is what the role is all about now, is clearly in appointing (elections are not the thing in the EU) a famous, dynamic leader who can give it instant credibility on the world stage.
Stelzer does not touch on the Eurosceptics’ nightmare: that David Cameron will be left in office but not in power as Blair’s EU acquires ever more authority. But he does offer his own take on Labour’s internal strife.
In something of an overture to James Purnell and David Miliband, Stelzer remarks of Blair:
He did make voters realise that they should be in charge, achieve at least some reforms, and create a dialogue that will make others possible once the Brown regime passes into opposition and Blairites regain control of the Labour Party.
Yet there’s no chance of that happening while the trade unions retain a third of the votes in Labour’s electoral college. In a typical display of eloquence, Derek Simpson, the joint head of Unite, recently branded Purnell, Miliband and Peter Mandelson “thick” and “Tories”.
Far more likely is that the centre-left “dream ticket” of Harriet Harman and Jon Cruddas will be elected, backed by the Compass wing of the party.
The Blairites had better hope that their man makes it to Brussels.
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