James Forsyth reviews the week in politics
For one night only, the band was back together. On Monday night, Tony Blair — looking toned and tanned — addressed the Institute for Government, the think-tank set up by his ally Lord Sainsbury. Cherie was in the front row, resplendent in a white salwar kameez. Blair’s two loyalist Cabinet allies, Tessa Jowell and Andrew Adonis, were also in attendance. There was even a question to the former prime minister from a fellow member of Ugly Rumours, Blair’s university band, to add to the reunion feel. This former rocker is now a civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions.
Most of what Blair said was technocratic not political; he talked about the ‘process lessons’ he had learned in government. But there was one moment when we saw a flash of the old Blair, the man prepared to pull his party out of its comfort zone. As he reflected on how the coalition could learn from other governments across the world about welfare reform, the pace of his delivery quickened and he said: ‘If my guys are smart, we’ll engage with this in a way that isn’t a purely partisan exercise.’
On the day that the papers had been full of Labour leadership contenders denouncing Iain Duncan Smith for suggesting that the state should make it easier for people to move to areas where there are jobs, Blair’s message to Labour was clear: don’t set yourself against any reform of the welfare state, don’t place yourself on the wrong side of the argument.
Every new government talks about reforming welfare and reducing the costs of social failure. Few governments succeed, however. Welfare reform is the toughest task in politics.
But the coalition has to succeed.
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