

Is New Labour to blame for why Corbyn’s Labour party lost in Copeland?

Ken Loach thinks so, kicking off another round of bitter arguments over what Blair and Brown achieved in government.

Last night the journalist Paul Mason also linked to the piece in appreciation, drawing a furious response from one Labour member.

He then went on an epic Twitter thread to list all of New Labour’s achievements.

Since so many people were asking for the thread to be collated, we thought we’d help out. It’s definitely worth reading.

@paulmasonnews sins of blair, brown, and new labour? 140 character limit is cruel when talking about what they did in government, but let's give it a go… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews the human rights act, more than doubling the number of apprenticeships, tripled spending on our NHS, 4 new med schools… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews sure start, lifted 900000 pensioners out of poverty, good friday agreement, tax credits, equality and human rights commission… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews beating the kyoto target on greenhouse gases, stopped milosevic, winter fuel allowance, climate change act, decreased homelessness by 73%… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews free prescriptions for cancer patients, removed the majority of hereditary peers, free part-time nursery place for every three – four yo… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews food standards agency, equality act, FOI act, increased university places, helped end the civil war in sierra leone, crossrail… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews £20bn in improvements to social housing conditions, longest period of sustained low inflation since the 1960s… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews reduced he number of people on waiting lists by over 500000; waiting times fell to a maximum of 18 weeks (lowest ever levels)… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews cut long-term youth unemployment by 75%, doubled the number of registered childcare spaces, disability rights commission… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews free entry to galleries and museums, 2009 autism act, new deal for communities programme (£2bn), electoral commission… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews record low A&E waiting times, reintroduced matrons, hunting act, banned testing of cosmetics on animals… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews 10 years of continuous economic growth, NHS direct, healthier school meals, access to life saving drugs for HIV and AIDS… — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews and wrote off up to 100% of debt owed by poorest countries. — hammy. (@iamhamesh) February 28, 2017

@paulmasonnews i know what blair and brown have done for me, my family, and my community. what's corbyn ever done for us apart from sign joke EDMs? — hammy. (@iamhamesh) March 1, 2017

Now that is one impressive list.

It’s time Labour members stopped rubbishing New Labour’s achievements in power