Blair plays down Clarke attack
Tony Blair has denied that Charles Clarke’s attack on him was his “Geoffrey Howe moment”.
The prime minister rejected the former home secretary’s claim that he had lost his “sense of purpose and direction”.
Instead he said the government should “calm down, hold our nerve and get on with governing”.
Mr Clarke’s comments, in an interview with The Times, drew comparisons with the resignation speech by deputy prime minister Geoffrey Howe more than 15 years ago, which sparked a leadership contest that led to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.
The Norwich South MP told the paper: “I do think there is a sense of Tony having lost his sense of purpose and direction, so my advice to him is to recover that sense of purpose and direction and that remains the best option.”
Downing Street put Mr Clarke’s comments down to his disappointment at losing his job, and said it was not surprising that he had expressed it in such a way.
It was the prime minister’s job to decide when a department was in trouble and when it needed new leadership, said the prime minister’s spokesman.
He also denied that Mr Blair had lost his sense of purpose, insisting he had given very clear direction to the Home Office with his comments on “rebalancing” the criminal justice system in favour of victims just last week.
Later, at a Downing Street reception for the British Society of Magazine Editors, Mr Blair gave a firm response to the question of whether he had had his “Geoffrey Howe moment”.
“No. I actually have a very great regard for Charles, both for what he did in government and afterwards. I simply felt he had to move from his position for the reasons I gave at the time,” he said.
“We are a year [on] from a general election. We have got three years, if not more, before the next general election. What we should do is calm down, hold our nerve and get on with governing.”
Mr Blair was also given backing by several backbench MPs and junior ministers.
Education minister Jim Knight told Today: “I hear more complaints about the pace of reform than I do about the feeling we don’t have enough purpose or direction.”
He added: “Ex-ministers coming on and bitching about the prime minister doesn’t do the Labour party any favours.”
Knowsley North & Sefton East MP George Howarth told Sky News: “The prime minister is very much still leading the party and is very much firmly in control, knows what he wants to do and is getting on with it.”
