Tony Blair launches fresh attack against 'tragic' Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn

Tony Blair has launched another scathing attack against Jeremy Corbyn and the current state of Labour, with the former prime minister describing the party as a "fringe protest movement" and a "tragedy".

"All wings of the Labour party that support the notion of the Labour Party as a party aspiring to govern, rather than as a fringe protest movement, agree on the tragedy of the Labour Party's current position," he wrote in The Spectator.

"But even within that governing tendency, there is disagreement about the last Labour government, what it stood for and what it should be proud of."

Blair also defended his decade-long record in government and claimed New Labour was a "radical" and "reforming" party in power. "We tried to put the moral purpose of the Labour party into practice, the only sort of morality worth very much," he said.

The former UN Middle East envoy also repeated Hilary Benn's sentiments on Islamic State (Isis) by calling the jihadists neo-fascists. "I believed then and believe now that this extremism is a modern form of fascism, albeit one based on religious doctrine and that we're engaged in a global war against it," Blair added.

The latest intervention comes after the former PM used a speech at the Progress pressure group to warn against Corbyn ahead of Labour's leadership election. He sensationally urged the left-wingers supporters to "get a heart transplant".

But the Islington North MP secured a shock victory in the election and has taken the party leftwards. A spokesman for the Labour leader declined to comment on Blair's remarks when approached by IBTimes UK. Meanwhile, former Labour PMM Gordon Brown has recently joined financial firm Pimco and ex-chancellor Alistair Darling has become a director of Morgan Stanley.