A decade of Blair... Labour on its knees

This from the Grauniad by Neal Lawson, I idn't notice till today. Always refreshing when the Blairites recant.

A decade of Blair has left the Labour party on its knees | Comment | Guardian Unlimited Politics: "The answer takes us back to Labour's fourth election defeat in 1992. At that moment, the party sank to its collective knees and vowed to do whatever it took to win next time. "

This is correct, apart from the fact that it was 1987, not 1992 when the sinking to the knees moment happened. That was the point where Kinnock brought Mandelson in closest to the throne.

In my own personal experience people like John Reid and Tom Sawyer were completely broken men in 1988, 1989. I know, I spoke to them and was amazed at their attitude. "It's all over, socialism is off the agenda, we can never win..." I paraphrase...

They, and such as them, were ripe for Blair. John Smith, though, got in the way. He moved Mandelson back outside the leader's tent - a good call. Surely no-one doubts Smith would have won in 1997? I completely disagree with the "Blair the best political communicator of his generation" bullshit. That's just starry-eyed stuff (now stary-eyed, of course). I could have won that election, so could you.

But by then Smith had died and Blair moved in on the broken men who were to become the "outriders". Then Blair and Mandy fucked Labour. Now here we are having wasted an unprecedented amount of political capital in war-crime blood and privatisation tears.

Hell mend us for letting Blair in.