General Election 2015: Deploying Tony Blair is a Catch-22 situation for the Labour Party

Both the Liberal Democrats and the SNP condemned Mr Blair, suggesting that voters now simply look at him and think: this is the man who led us into Iraq

Tony Blair meets troops during a visit to Basra in 2004 (Getty Images)

Deploying Tony Blair is a Catch-22 situation for the Labour Party. While the former prime minister remains a political heavyweight – both David Cameron and George Osborne reportedly refer to him as “The Master” – for some his legacy is toxic.

Moments after he gave his speech yesterday, both the Liberal Democrats and the SNP condemned Mr Blair’s record, suggesting that voters now simply look at him and think: this is the man who led us into Iraq.

Labour are well aware of the political baggage that their former leader carries through his association both with the Iraq war and the New Labour project. The party’s current leader, Ed Miliband, has repeatedly sought to distance himself from the old regime.

Asked why he did not appear alongside the former prime minister yesterday, Mr Miliband said only that his Labour colleague could “speak for himself”. He added that he was “100 per cent happy” to receive Mr Blair’s support – but was careful not to praise him too highly.