28 May 2026

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he made the right policy choices given the backdrop he inherited, after former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair accused his government of having "no coherent plan".

In a highly critical essay, Sir Tony said measures including increasing employers' National Insurance, new workers' rights laws and phasing out of the British oil and gas industry had held back business.

But Sir Keir said his government had been "vindicated", pointing to recent economic growth figures and falling NHS waiting lists.

Sir Tony's intervention comes as the PM faces a potential leadership challenge following a disastrous set of election results and ministerial resignations.

Sir Tony, who came to power in 1997 and won two further general elections, argued a change of leader was "irrelevant if it doesn't start with a policy debate".

In his essay of more than 5,600 words - his first in-depth critique of Sir Keir's government - Sir Tony argued the "principal problem" was not "Keir's personality" or "a failure to communicate 'our achievements'".

He wrote: "It is because we don't have a worked-out coherent plan for the country in a fast-changing world and are in the wrong political position from which we can devise one and win a second term."

In response, Sir Keir told broadcasters he agreed with his predecessor "that we should be having a discussion about policy and ideas".

However, he added: "I don't agree that the policy choices of this government weren't the right policy choices given what we inherited, a very different situation in 2024 to 1997.

And in a near-3,000 word riposte on the online platform Substack, he went further, saying the economic situation his government had inherited was the worst since 1979.

He acknowledged Labour's early decision to restrict winter fuel payments, on which it eventually U-turned, had been a "mistake", and that it had "asked a lot" of businesses by hiking the amount of National Insurance tax they pay.

But he said the party had "got the big political choices right", pointing to falls in migration, NHS waiting times, and knife crime, whilst arguing the UK was "outperforming our peers" economically.

Although Sir Keir won a landslide general election victory in 2024, Labour's polling has plummeted since then.

The government has blamed the tough financial inheritance it took over from the Conservatives for the many of the decisions it has made, as well as the difficult economic backdrop, with wars in Ukraine and later Iran pushing up the cost of living.

However, it has also made a number of damaging policy U-turns on cuts to winter fuel payments and disability benefits.

Meanwhile, business groups have argued that some policies, including tax rises and new workers' rights laws, have discouraged hiring and hit economic growth.

When Sir Tony became PM in 1997 the economy was growing strongly and he went on to win two more general elections in a row - the only Labour prime minister ever to do this.

In his essay, Sir Tony said he agreed with some of the government's policies, including investment in infrastructure, reform of the planning system and reducing trade friction with Europe.

However, the former PM said other commitments were "unwise to proceed with" given the current economic circumstances.

He called on the government to remove parts of the net-zero agenda "which prioritise clean energy over cheaper energy", press ahead with welfare reform and remove obstacles to business growth.

His intervention comes just weeks ahead of a by-election in Makerfield, which will be crucial for the future direction of the Labour Party.

Labour is facing a battle against Reform UK, which performed strongly in the area in May's council elections.

The party's candidate is Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who is expected to challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership if he wins.

Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary earlier this month in protest at Sir Keir's leadership, has also said he would stand in any future contest.

Both Burnham and Streeting have criticised Sir Tony's essay, accusing him of underestimating the impact of inequality on the country.

Asked if he would run if there was a leadership contest this summer, Sir Keir repeated that he would not "walk away".