The Sunday Showdown: Camilla takes on Blair’s ‘fixer’
The Daily T
The Telegraph
4.1 • 705 Ratings
🗓️ 31 May 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Camilla Tominey is joined for this edition of The Daily T podcast by former director of political operations to Tony Blair - John McTernan - after the former Prime Minister’s scathing criticism of Keir Starmer’s premiership in a 5,000 word essay earlier this week.
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Producer: Emma Williams
Senior Producer: John Cadigan
Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman
Video Producer: James England
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle
Editor: Camilla Tominey
Highlights
- John McTernan says Tony Blair attacked Keir Starmer's record this week out of love for the Labour Party
- He also believes Blair is backing Andy Burnham to run for the leadership
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.8 | What happens when a Telegraph journalist on the right, |
| 0:13.1 | me, has a cupper with Tony Blair's fixer, John McTurnon. |
| 0:17.3 | We have a great debate about what makes someone far right, |
| 0:20.5 | mass immigration, and why Ed Miller |
| 0:22.1 | Band should be praised for his policies and his achievements. |
| 0:25.5 | Which he absolutely shouldn't be, by the way. |
| 0:28.3 | Welcome to The Daily Tea with me, Camilla Tomini. |
| 0:31.0 | And me, John McTurnan. |
| 0:43.8 | Thank you. John McTurton, I'm going to call you |
| 0:46.1 | one of Tony Blair's besties, |
| 0:47.9 | if you don't mind. |
| 0:49.0 | What's Tony up to? |
| 0:50.1 | Keeps on sticking his awe in, doesn't he? |
| 0:53.5 | I mean, 5,000 words. Come on, Tony. |
| 0:56.9 | They're really well argued, really well written, really provocative, and everyone's talking about them. |
| 1:02.2 | True. |
| 1:02.5 | That's the point of being a thing. |
| 1:03.7 | Why be a think tank, which is what Tony Blair Institute is? |
| 1:06.3 | Yeah. |
| 1:06.6 | And produce reports that no one talks about and no one reads. |
| 1:09.4 | He's now basically trashing Labor's entire policy platform before the UK's gaze. |
... |
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