‘Time to move on from new Labour’

Labour’s five leadership candidates all said it was time to move on from the Blair/Brown era as they took part in a televised Sky debate in the wake of the explosive Tony Blair memoirs.

Mr Blair himself declined to endorse any of the contenders and promised to support whoever is elected “100 per cent”.

But commentators who suspect him of favouring front-runner David Miliband will note that he praised him as “a quite remarkable guy”.

In a clear sign of the shift in atmosphere within Labour since Mr Blair’s time in charge, all five leadership hopefuls were happy to describe themselves as “socialist” when they appeared in the Sky News debate.

And when the candidates were asked whether they preferred Mr Blair or Mr Brown, David Miliband deftly ducked the question by replying: “Miliband... Tony is not on a ballot paper, Gordon is not on a ballot paper, Michael Foot is not on a ballot paper, Tony Benn is not on a ballot paper.

“It’s a new generation on the ballot paper and it is how we go forward for Britain and not how we refight the battles of the past.”

Voting slips in the postal ballot were sent out to MPs, MEPs, party activists and union members on Wednesday, and the identity of the new leader will be announced in Manchester on September 25 ahead of the annual conference.

Yesterday, all of the candidates were ready to acknowledge failings in the Labour Administrations of the past 13 years.