(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Former prime minister Gordon Brown yesterday made a high-profile intervention in the Labour leadership contest to warn of the risks of becoming a "party of protest".
During a 50-minute speech in London he did not mention left-wing frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn - viewed as unelectable by many Labour MPs - but pressed the issue of trying to win future elections and urged the party to learn from its history.
He acknowledged it was "grieving" after its general election defeat, but said: "There is one thing worse than having broken hearts, it is powerlessness.
"Our hearts can be broken and yet it is worse to find out we are powerless to do anything about it. To see a wrong and not be able to right it, to see an injustice and not be able to correct it, to see suffering and be able to do nothing about it, to see pain and know you cannot heal it, to see good that needs to be done and change that needs to be made and not to be in a position to do it.
"When I know, and I argued, and I think you believe, that the only way that we can avert the pain and end the suffering is by securing in the future the election of a Labour government to deliver on our priorities.
"And when I see the opinion polls that say the one grouping in the party that is likely to get most votes is the one grouping that even its own supporters say is least likely to be able to form a government, then we have to look at the lessons of our history."
In an apparent reference to Corbyn's refusal to rule out campaigning for a British exit from the European Union, Brown added: "How can we say that for progressives the best way of facing the future is to abandon co-operation with Europe, to leave our membership of the European Union just at the time when our leadership is needed more than ever to fight protectionism and xenophobic isolationism and all the extremes of racism, discrimination and prejudice?"
The speech was delivered in the symbolic Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank, scene of the victory party that greeted New Labour's 1997 landslide.
In a reminder of the need for electoral success, Brown said: "Remember that we seek power for a purpose. We seek power out of principle. But we cannot win power if we do not win the people."
Corbyn's camp insisted he was the candidate "most likely to engage with voters beyond Labour's existing supporters" and credibility did not mean signing up to austerity.
A spokesman said: "Gordon Brown has highlighted the need for a Labour Party that stands for hope, that is credible, radical and electable - on which basis the best candidate to vote for is Jeremy Corbyn.
"It is necessary to be credible but credibility cannot mean an orthodoxy of austerity that chokes off recovery - instead we need a Labour Party that stands for growth, investment and innovation across the whole country."
Andy Burnham is Labour's only hope of "becoming a credible opposition again", comedian and party supporter Steve Coogan has warned.
Coogan said a YouGov poll showing Jeremy Corbyn as runaway leader in the four-way competition brought home "the levels of arrogance and delusion that have filled the ranks for the party".
The actor, best-known for his role as tragic radio host Alan Partridge, backed Labour's general election bid and has now come out in support of shadow health secretary Burnham.
In a comment piece for the Guardian, the writer and producer said "millions of Britons need a Labour government, and they need one soon".
He said: "With Burnham we have the prospect of a leader who espouses true Labour values, will be a strong voice in opposition, will hold the party together and will lead a radically progressive Labour government from 2020.
"With Corbyn, we face a splintered party full of in-fighting with an unelectable leader who is viewed by the public and the press as a laughable oddity.
Corbyn, seen as a radical left-winger, has emerged as the front-runner to take Labour's top job after storming ahead of his rivals in polls.
An exclusive poll for the Evening Standard yesterday revealed had more support among the London public than his nearest rivals, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper, put together. It found 46% of Londoners with an opinion thought Corbyn would make the best Labour leader.
The leader is expected to be announced at a conference on September 12.
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