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120 years on, Blair gets it wrong again on what the Labour Party is about
Three-time prime minister Tony Blair has a rather strange view of the Labour Party’s foundation — that it should not have happened. Socialist historian KEITH FLETT reports

IT WAS the 120th anniversary of the foundation of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) at the end of February. In 1900 delegates from trade unions and left-wing parties met on February 26 and 27 in the Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street.

The building has long since been replaced by an office block — but a plaque remains. Former Labour leader Tony Blair used the occasion to make a speech, partly about labour history and mostly about where he thinks “progressive” or centre-left opinion should go in the next 10 years.

“Who cares what Blair thinks?” is surely the reaction of most socialists.

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