Sir Tony Blair has urged the Labor Party to stay at the center and avoid “tax and spend” to emerge from economic turmoil.
The former prime minister also credited Sir Keir Starmer with rescuing his party from the “brink of extinction”.
But in an interview with the Financial Times, Sir Tony said Sir Keir would have to face a much more challenging situation than he faced when he came to power in 1997.
He added: “If Sir Keir Starmer wins the election, which I think he has a good chance of doing, he will be the sixth prime minister in eight years.
“That is a country that is in a disaster. “We are not in good shape.”
He said criticizing Sir Keir’s policy offer as too tame was “nonsense” and that Labor should not equate “being radical with simply taxing and spending”.
He added: “The Conservative Party has taxed and spent to the point that we are in an economic crisis.
“The current radical agenda is about understanding, mastering and harnessing the technological revolution; everything else is secondary to that.”
The political great, who led the Labor government from 1997 to 2007, told the newspaper that while he met Sir Keir “quite frequently”, he was “his own person” who had shown “agility and determination” in reshaping the match after. of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Sir Keir has been open about seeking advice from Sir Tony and Gordon Brown on moving into government.
