Tony Blair is strong on diagnosis, deluded on prescription: Britain's ills can't be fixed by him | Larry Elliott

Labour has made avoidable mistakes since taking power, including lacking a coherent plan for what would follow an election win. Britain faces long-term structural issues that threaten its standing among leading nations unless addressed. Sustainable growth and welfare reform are key challenges, and reversing Brexit is not a sufficient solution. A proposed approach to AI aims to encourage startups while adding regulatory safeguards to protect the public, avoiding both stifling regulation and an unregulated free-for-all. Criticism is directed at an overreliance on Silicon Valley optimism and an anti-net-zero stance, despite earlier climate-economics work. Renewable energy efforts are supported by disruptions to oil shipments and record high temperatures.

"Tony Blair is right. Labour has made some big and avoidable mistakes since it came to power nearly two years ago. Keir Starmer had a strategy for winning the election but lacked a coherent plan for what his government would do next. Fair cop. Blair is also correct when he says that unless Britain tackles some long-term structural issues, it is in danger of being relegated from the premier league of nations. Achieving higher levels of sustainable growth is one challenge. Welfare reform is another. And as the former prime minister notes, reversing Brexit is not a solution to those problems."

"The UK government is trying to steer a middle way a very Blairite concept in its approach. It wants to encourage AI startups while providing the proper regulatory safeguards to protect the public. It doesn't want regulation to stifle innovation, as it does in the EU, but nor does it want a free-for-all. This seems a sensible approach. Blair, from what he says, seems to have drunk far too much of the Silicon Valley Kool-Aid."

"He has also been too quick to jump on the anti-net zero bandwagon, a curious stance for a politician whose government commissioned the groundbreaking Stern review into the economics of climate change two decades ago. The choking off of crude oil shipments through the strait of Hormuz is one reason why Ed Miliband is right to be going big on renewable energy. The UK's record-breaking temperatures this week are another."

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