The Long Farewell

John McDonnell MP, the only declared candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party so far said: "Tony Blair wanted to say good-bye and the party wanted to show its respect and allow its leader a dignified departure. The trouble is the real world keeps intruding.

"The Blair legacy is a party trailing in the polls, out of touch with its supporters and having suffered a crushing defeat in the local elections. If we are to secure a 4th term we need a radical change of direction.

"We're alienating voters not just because we've made tough decisions but because we've made the wrong decisions. Underneath the emotion and the rhetoric the New Labour agenda remains the same: more privatisation, a foreign policy dictated by George Bush, nuclear power, replacement of Trident, and an increasing threat to civil liberties.

"Tony said in his speech when we came to power in '97 'this was a country aching for change'. It still is."