'I was wrong on Corbyn' Blair says Labour CAN win - but warns against left-wing government
FORMER prime minister Tony Blair has admitted he was wrong about Jeremy Corbyn and accepts the Labour leader could win the next general election.
Blair blasts Corbyn for having '1960s hard-left' vision for UK
But he said he had not changed his mind on the "wisdom" of electing him and warned a Corbyn administration would be bad for Britain.
Mr Blair, a consistent critic of Mr Corbyn, told BBC Newsnight that a year ago he thought it was impossible for the left-winger to win.
But he added: "There's been so many political upsets, it's possible Jeremy Corbyn could become prime minister and Labour could win on that programme."
Tony Blair has warned against a Jeremy Corbyn government
Tony Blair said he still questioned the 'wisdom' of voting for Jeremy Corbyn
Having defied predictions of a heavy defeat at last month's general election - and stripped the Conservatives of their majority - Mr Corbyn now describes his party as a "government-in-waiting".
And many of his critics have since admitted they underestimated him.
Mr Blair told Newsnight he still believed "it's a surer route to power to fight from the centre" and that it would be damaging for the country if Mr Corbyn became prime minister and imposed "an unreconstructed far Left programme".
Jeremy Corbyn posing for selfies with supporters in Bournemouth
I think it's possible you end up with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister
But on Mr Corbyn's chances of reaching Downing Street, he said nothing could be ruled out.
He said: “For most of my political life I've been saying: 'I think this is the right way to go, and what's more it's the only way to win an election'.
"I have to qualify that now. I have to say 'no - I think it's possible you end up with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister’.”
Jeremy Corbyn described his Labour opposition as a 'government-in-waiting'
The Labour leadership has dismissed Mr Blair's recent interventions - which included claiming Brexit followed by a Corbyn government would leave Britain "flat on its back".
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: "To be frank, Mr Blair hasn't really listened to the nature of the debate that is going on in the pubs, the clubs and school gates etc.”
The interview will be shown on Newsnight on BBC Two at 10.30pm tonight.