Sir Tony Blair is accusing Boris Johnson of lacking a coherent blueprint for dealing with the major strategic challenges facing the UK.
In an online address on Thursday, the former prime minister will say that whether or not Mr Johnson survives the row over Downing Street his biggest problem is the absence of a plan for the country’s future.
He will say changes resulting from Brexit the technological revolution and the ambition to be carbon neutral in 25 years pose an unprecedented set of challenges which the Government is ill-prepared to address.
“There is a gaping hole in the governing of Britain where new ideas should be,” he will say.
“We are living through three revolutionary changes simultaneously and are ill-prepared for any of them. Each of them would require major changes to the way we work as a nation.
“All of them together pose a challenge which is unprecedented in recent history.”
Sir Tony will say that the Government’s slogan of “levelling up” did little to clarify the real issues for the UK.
“Other than a desire to give opportunity to those without it, which is obviously hard to disagree with, the slogan risks misdirecting the framing of the country’s problem,” he will say.
“We face a national challenge – all the country, not simply the areas ‘left behind’.”
He will add: “I understand completely the rage against what happened in Downing Street during lockdown and how the country feels.
“Maybe Boris Johnson goes and maybe he doesn’t. But the real problem is the absence of a Government plan for Britain’s future.”
