The return of the Blairites is the last thing Labour needs

The idea that New Labour politics would win back voters from the SNP, Greens or Ukip is delusional

We can’t say we weren’t warned. David Cameron has lost no time since the election in turning his government sharply to the right. Under the banner of “blue collar Conservatism”, the Thatcherites and neocons have been let off the leash.

New strike ballot voting thresholds of 40% will make most industrial action illegal – this from a government backed by less than 25% of the electorate. New restrictions on freedom of speech are being lined up in the name of British values. After a pre-election austerity pause, prepare for the most savage benefit and spending cuts yet – and what one Tory minister has promised will be a “flood of privatisation”.

Related: Cameron's blue-collar cabinet causes limo-lock on Downing Street

While Labour’s middle-class vote held up, the historic loss of 4 million working-class voters continued

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