Tony Blair is pining for a centre ground that no longer exists
The former prime minister has shown a total disconnect from the impact of economic change on ordinary people.
What if a great political leader from the past could time travel to our day? It would make for a classic comedy. Confronted with the wreckage of Labourism across the Red Wall, the rise of "wokeness" and the salience of far-right ideology among working people, we would laugh at his confusion. As he deployed policies and rhetoric from the distant past, like Don Quixote attacking windmills with a lance, we would grimace with recognition: it’s the fate of everyone, eventually, to be out of step with their time.