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| Tony Blair's call to mobilise against Brexit sparks mixed response | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tony Blair has received a predictably dismissive government response to his call for remain voters to organise their opposition to Brexit, with No 10 saying there would be no second referendum. | Tony Blair has received a predictably dismissive government response to his call for remain voters to organise their opposition to Brexit, with No 10 saying there would be no second referendum. |
| Reaction to Blair’s article and subsequent radio interview – in which he said of those who opposed leaving the EU, “We are the insurgents now” – was more scathing elsewhere, with one Tory MP calling the former prime minister a “snake-oil salesman”. | |
| In his first major intervention on Brexit since the referendum campaign, Blair called for a new movement born from the 48% of the electorate who wanted to remain in the EU, saying: “We have to build the capability to mobilise and to organise.” | In his first major intervention on Brexit since the referendum campaign, Blair called for a new movement born from the 48% of the electorate who wanted to remain in the EU, saying: “We have to build the capability to mobilise and to organise.” |
| Writing in the New European, Blair said: “The issue is not whether we ignore the will of the people, but whether, as information becomes available, and facts take the place of claims, the ‘will’ of the people shifts. Maybe it won’t, in which case people like me will have to accept it. | Writing in the New European, Blair said: “The issue is not whether we ignore the will of the people, but whether, as information becomes available, and facts take the place of claims, the ‘will’ of the people shifts. Maybe it won’t, in which case people like me will have to accept it. |
| “But surely we are entitled to try to persuade, to make the argument, and not to be whipped into line to support a decision we genuinely believe is a catastrophe for the country we love.” | “But surely we are entitled to try to persuade, to make the argument, and not to be whipped into line to support a decision we genuinely believe is a catastrophe for the country we love.” |
| Blair later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK should not rule out the possibility of another referendum. “If it becomes clear that this is either a deal that doesn’t make it worth our while leaving, or a deal that is so serious in its implications that people may decide they don’t want to go, there’s got to be some way, either through parliament, through an election, possibly through a referendum, in which people express their view,” he said. | Blair later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK should not rule out the possibility of another referendum. “If it becomes clear that this is either a deal that doesn’t make it worth our while leaving, or a deal that is so serious in its implications that people may decide they don’t want to go, there’s got to be some way, either through parliament, through an election, possibly through a referendum, in which people express their view,” he said. |
| “There is no reason why we should close off any options. The country has taken a decision in a referendum, there is no way that decision can be reversed, unless it becomes clear once people see the facts they change their mind.” | “There is no reason why we should close off any options. The country has taken a decision in a referendum, there is no way that decision can be reversed, unless it becomes clear once people see the facts they change their mind.” |
| Blair, a critic of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said he did not support the creation of a new political party but hinted in a recent interview with Esquire that he could be ready for a return to politics. | Blair, a critic of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said he did not support the creation of a new political party but hinted in a recent interview with Esquire that he could be ready for a return to politics. |
| On Friday, he said the current options left millions of people in the centre with no one to represent them. “This is a decision of those who are active in politics now. My view simply is this, if you end up in a situation where the political choice is between a hard Brexit Tory party and a hard-left Labour party, there are millions of people who feel politically homeless,” he said. | |
| He said it would be “a tragedy if we end up as a country with two competing visions of the 1960s”. | He said it would be “a tragedy if we end up as a country with two competing visions of the 1960s”. |
| A No 10 spokesman said Blair was “entitled to put his views to whom he so chooses”, adding: “But what’s important is the PM [Theresa May] has been absolutely clear – the British people have spoken, we are listening, we’re going to leave the European Union. | |
| “And not only has the PM been clear here but she’s also been clear when she’s met European leaders. There will be no second referendum, Britain is leaving the European Union.” | |
| Maria Caulfield, Tory MP for Lewes and a member of the new Commons Brexit select committee, said Blair had broken “his own promise of a referendum on the EU, encouraged uncontrolled immigration and now can’t come to terms with the decision of the people of the UK to leave”. | Maria Caulfield, Tory MP for Lewes and a member of the new Commons Brexit select committee, said Blair had broken “his own promise of a referendum on the EU, encouraged uncontrolled immigration and now can’t come to terms with the decision of the people of the UK to leave”. |
| She added: “Instead of desperately trying to find ways to thwart the will of voters and talking down Britain’s prospects, Labour should be concentrating on helping to make a success of Brexit.” | She added: “Instead of desperately trying to find ways to thwart the will of voters and talking down Britain’s prospects, Labour should be concentrating on helping to make a success of Brexit.” |
| Stewart Jackson, the Tory MP for Peterborough and parliamentary private secretary to the Brexit secretary, David Davis, tweeted: | Stewart Jackson, the Tory MP for Peterborough and parliamentary private secretary to the Brexit secretary, David Davis, tweeted: |
| Blair the snake oil salesman on @BBCr4today will do much to boost the strong case for #Brexit surely | Blair the snake oil salesman on @BBCr4today will do much to boost the strong case for #Brexit surely |
| Blair did, however, win support from Owen Smith, a former Labour leadership challenger who has called for a referendum on an eventual Brexit deal. Smith tweeted: | Blair did, however, win support from Owen Smith, a former Labour leadership challenger who has called for a referendum on an eventual Brexit deal. Smith tweeted: |
| Tony Blair is right: Brexit is a catastrophe & we must continue to make the case for Europe, even at at 2nd Ref pic.twitter.com/mjvaPnAenC | Tony Blair is right: Brexit is a catastrophe & we must continue to make the case for Europe, even at at 2nd Ref pic.twitter.com/mjvaPnAenC |
| Blair was prime minister between 1997 and 2007; he has since taken on many business interests, including advising controversial world leaders and acting as a Middle East peace envoy. | |
| He was forced to defend himself against criticisms of his decision to take the UK to war in Iraq when the Chilcot report was published this year. | He was forced to defend himself against criticisms of his decision to take the UK to war in Iraq when the Chilcot report was published this year. |