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TONE THE TROT

Tony Blair mocked for revealing he he used to be a hard-left TROT while at Oxford University… but dating Cherie shook him out of it

The former PM said he read the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and 'a light went' on

TONY BLAIR has sparked widespread mockery by revealing that used to be a TROT while at university, but dating his wife-to-be Cherie shook him out of it.

The former Prime Minister, who has flirted with a return to frontline politics, said he read the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky while studying law at Oxford and "a light went" on.

 Tony Blair said he used to be a hard-lefter who read Trotsky
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Tony Blair said he used to be a hard-lefter who read TrotskyCredit: AP

In a new BBC Radio 4 series 'Reflections with Peter Hennessy', the former PM and fierce remainer said he has "toyed with Marxism" and picked up a biography of the hard-left leader after performing a gig with his student band Ugly Rumours.

The posterboy for lefty hatred said: "I picked it up and started to read it. And I literally didn't stop reading it all night. It opened a different world to me.

"It was like a light going on."

But the Tories accused the the former Labour chief of sucking up to Jeremy Corbyn, despite calling for him to quit just two months ago.
Tory MP Amanda Milling hit back: "Blair’s life changing Trotsky revelation doesn’t quite chime with his repeated calls for Corbyn to resign and dismissal of a 'traditional leftist platform'."
She added: "People might well wonder why he’s now reaching out to the current leadership despite their dangerous policies"

Mr Blair, who went on to be Prime Minister in 1997, said that when he started dating his future wife Cherie, his leftie lovings all changed.

"She was a sort of mainstream Labour person then and remained that literally all the way through," he said.

"When we started going out she was extremely critical of what she regarded as my Oxford student socialism, she made that very clear, he said.

"By the time I entered parliament I was definitely part of the Labour party mainstream."

The former PM went on to say that the Labour party in the 1980s - which was then run by a strong team of hard-left activists - was "ready to change but ready to change enough".

Tony Blair
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The former PM said he did not understand the depths of problems in the Middle East and Islam before the Iraq warCredit: PA:Press Association

On the much-hated Iraq War he took the country into in 2003, he insisted that he was right to take out the dictator, but admitted again that not enough was done to prepare for it.

"The thing that is, I think, difficult for people to accept is that I haven’t changed my view that it was better that we removed him [Saddam Hussein] than not.

"He used weapons against his own people."

The ex PM also revealed in the interview that he was "very close" with Gordon Brown despite all their disagreements, and even let him write his first conference speech.

"This was a close political relationship, personal relationship," he said. 

"He taught me an immense amount, he taught me how to make a speech."

The former premier was snapped on holiday earlier this week with the EU leader who called for a second referendum to reverse Brexit.

Mr Blair, with his wife Cherie, were taking a break with Maltese leader Joseph Muscat, and thanked them for sharing "so many insights".

 Joseph Muscat posted a picture of him and his wife hosting Tony and Cherie Blair
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Joseph Muscat posted a picture of him and his wife hosting Tony and Cherie BlairCredit: Twitter/@JosephMuscat_JM

 

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