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Britain is not, as Sir John Major, Mr Blair’s predecessor, wanted, a nation at ease with itself. <\/p>\n
In particular, our recent economic history is, like that of many other Western democracies, a tale of shocks and stagnation: a “vicious cycle of increased costs, increased taxes, and poor outcomes”.<\/p>\n
Aside from the UK being very different under each of their tenures, Sir Tony and Sir Keir have very different political antennae and life experiences. <\/p>\n
Mr Blair, while concerned about inequality and the plight of the poor, wrote in his memoir, A Journey, that he identified more with the aspirations of the middle class than the anxieties of the working class.<\/p>\n
He said he wanted to move Labour beyond class struggle.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir has said his “project” is “to return Labour to the service of working people, to become once again the natural vehicle for their<\/i> hopes and aspirations.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Technology revolution<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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But I am told that the question “What would Tony do?” is often heard, explicitly or implicitly, within the new government, just as those who ran the coalition government referred to him, with tongue only loosely in cheek, as the Master. <\/p>\n
Luckily for all concerned, he has written down some answers in a new book, called On Leadership.<\/p>\n
It has two central arguments. <\/p>\n
First, the quality of governance and leadership is the difference between success and failure for countries. <\/p>\n
Effective leadership requires stability and decisions for the long term. <\/p>\n
When Mr Blair stood down, Britain had been led by just three people over 28 years. <\/p>\n
Now we’re on our sixth prime minister in eight years.<\/p>\n
The second, which is not new coming from Sir Tony, is that we are living through a technology revolution greater in consequence than previous industrial revolutions. <\/p>\n
Primarily, this concerns Artificial Intelligence (AI). <\/p>\n
The former prime minister is of the school that AI will change everything everywhere. <\/p>\n
He’s all in. <\/p>\n
And his argument, which forms a key plank of his institute’s work, is “the big question for any political leader in modern politics is how do I understand, master and harness the technology revolution?”<\/p>\n
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Disagreement over ID cards<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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He is sometimes criticised for talking in generalities or abstractions about technology rather than specifics, but this overlooks the many detailed policy recommendations his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has made. <\/p>\n
This think tank works in over 40 countries, advising governments, they say, on policy, delivery and strategy.<\/p>\n
Prime among them: a digital ID, kept in a personalised digital wallet for each person to control who it is shared with. <\/p>\n
In power, Mr Blair spent a lot of capital on ID cards, and lost the argument. <\/p>\n
Today, although Labour has ruled out Digital ID, figures such as former chancellor George Osborne have changed their mind, accepting Sir Tony’s point that given how much data we hand over to tech companies, and the potential gains in running services and controlling migration, the idea should be revisited.<\/p>\n
Technology allows Sir Tony to channel the optimism that he exuded after winning the Labour leadership. <\/p>\n
There has never been a more exciting time to be in politics, he argues, such is the potential of this technology revolution. <\/p>\n
But there is no getting away from the sheer scale of the challenges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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