James Lyons

What it did was what a lot of us in number 10 feared.

It basically persuaded labor MPs, mutinous labor MPs, that there was a magic money tree to reverse the welfare cuts.

So it poured petrol on the welfare rebellion.

While the attention on the day was obviously on those horrific crimes, I just don't, I mean, looking from the outside, when I heard that policy, I knew immediately that there was going to be, all hell was going to break loose around it.

Well, for whatever reason, you know, and I can see how it would have happened.

You know, the Treasury officials would have greeted the new government at the door and told them that we're on the kind of brink of some kind of Greek style, you know, financial meltdown if they didn't act quickly.

And here are some options.

You know, so I think that's probably what went on there.

Well, I mean, I find it absolutely fascinating what Tony Blair thought he was going to achieve.

And, you know, I'm a big fan of Tony Blair.

He's a little bit left wing for me.

But apart from that, he was a great prime minister.

But it does seem a really cancer productive move here.

I think who are the winners?

Maybe Andy Byrne a bit, possibly Wes Streeting.

You know, you can put a conspiracy theory together that says Tony Blair did this so that Wes Streeting can come out and criticise Tony Blair and try to endear himself to bits of the Labour Party that aren't very endeared to him at the moment.

It is St Tony the healer.

He's brought all these people together.

and united them in saying that he is wrong.

And I'm not sure that if I was Pat McFadden, I would have welcomed his intervention on welfare this week, because I think it would make it even harder to sell to reform to Labour MPs.