Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he made the right policy choices given the “very different situation” he inherited, after former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair accused his government of having “no coherent plan” in a 5,600-word essay that likely took longer to write than any actual plan.

In the highly critical essay - his first in-depth critique of Sir Keir's government - Sir Tony said measures including increasing employers National Insurance, new workers' rights laws, and phasing out the British oil and gas industry had held back business, making them sound less like a coherent plan and more like a particularly aggressive game of Monopoly.

But Sir Keir said his government had been “vindicated,” pointing to recent economic growth figures and falling NHS waiting lists - the political equivalent of saying the patient is fine because he stopped bleeding for a moment.

Sir Tony's intervention comes as the PM faces a potential leadership challenge following a disastrous set of election results and ministerial resignations, including Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary earlier this month in protest at Sir Keir's leadership and has said he would stand in any future contest.

In his essay, Sir Tony argued the “principal problem” was not “Keir's personality” or “a failure to communicate 'our achievements'” but the lack of “a worked-out coherent plan for the country in a fast-changing world.” He added that a change of leader was “irrelevant if it doesn't start with a policy debate,” which is the political equivalent of saying you can't swap out the engine if the car has no steering wheel.

Sir Keir responded by agreeing with his predecessor “that we should be having a discussion about policy and ideas” but added: “I don't agree that the policy choices of this government weren't the right policy choices given what we inherited, a very different situation in 2024 to 1997.” He highlighted recent figures showing the UK economy grew by more than expected at the start of the year, as well as investment in public services.

Although Sir Keir won a landslide general election victory in 2024, Labour's polling has plummeted since then. The government has blamed the tough financial inheritance from the Conservatives, as well as wars in Ukraine and later Iran pushing up the cost of living. However, it has also made a number of damaging policy U-turns on cuts to winter fuel payments and disability benefits - which doesn't exactly scream “coherent plan” either.

When Sir Tony became PM in 1997, the economy was growing strongly, and he went on to win two more general elections in a row - the only Labour prime minister ever to do this. In his essay, Sir Tony said he agreed with some of the government's policies, including investment in infrastructure, reform of the planning system, and reducing trade friction with Europe, but said other commitments were “unwise to proceed with” given the current economic circumstances.

He called on the government to remove parts of the net-zero agenda “which prioritise clean energy over cheaper energy,” press ahead with welfare reform, and remove obstacles to business growth - essentially telling Starmer to be more like Blair, minus the Iraq War.

The intervention comes just weeks ahead of a by-election in Makerfield, which will be crucial for the future direction of the Labour Party. Labour is facing a battle against Reform UK, which performed strongly in the area in May's council elections. The party's candidate is Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who is expected to challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership if he wins. Both Burnham and Streeting have criticised Sir Tony's essay, accusing him of underestimating the impact of inequality on the country.

Asked if he would run if there was a leadership contest this summer, Sir Keir repeated that he would not “walk away.” Which, given the current state of things, might be the closest thing to a coherent plan he's offered so far.