The Conservatives must understand that driving through a Brexit deal will be the gateway to a Corbyn government, Tony Blair said this morning.
The former prime minister also said he didn’t believe Labour would vote for a Tory deal on Brexit, contradicting shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry’s (supposedly sarcastic) claim yesterday that Labour would “probably” vote in favour of the final deal.
Speaking at an event held by UK in a Changing Europe to mark the one year anniversary of Article 50 being triggered, Blair explained that if the Conservative MPs were to vote in favour of the final deal, “Brexit will then be 100% owned by the Tories … and it will allow Labour to say ‘well we’d have got you a better deal and these guys didn’t get the right deal’.”
“By the time you get to 2022 [the expected date of the next general election] you’ll be out of the European Union. I’ve got a feeling the 17 million who voted to leave are going to be short on gratitude and the 16 million who voted to remain are going to be long on memory,” he said. “If they’ve still got Brexit round their neck … they’re in danger of going down,” he said.
Blair also said that another referendum on the final terms of the deal would be strategically useful for the Conservatives. He claimed that if the vote is put to the British people, the Tories would be able to pass on responsibility for Brexit – its terms, conditions, and whatever outcome – to the British people.
Blair also reiterated his support for another referendum, blaming the media for portraying a second vote as a betrayal of the British people: “If it wasn’t for the way this whole thing has gone, and for the way that that – what I call that – right wing media cartel just keep this constant barrage of propaganda, it would be common sense to say ‘let’s wait until we see the terms of the new relationship’ before irrevocably we get out of the old one.”
“It’s only in the bizarre world that’s been created that we think that this is a betrayal of the British people.”
Asked what type of question should be on the ballot paper in the event of another vote, he said: “I think the question would have to be whether you prefer this deal to staying,” but didn’t rule out the possibility for a ‘no deal’ to feature.
In the event of a rejection of any deal, Blair said going back to renegotiate would not be realistic. He also argued that if parliament voted down the deal, May wouldn’t have to resign. “She’s perfectly entitled to say ‘look I did my best and here it is’ and now it’s back for the people to vote.”
His comments come after his appearance on the Today programme this morning, during which he said cancelling Brexit was becoming “more likely”.
Asked if he felt guilty for making referendums as an acceptable as a tool of constitutional decision making, he laughed: “Well, ehh … every situation on its own merits. I think if you’re going to change radically the constitutional relationship of the country there’s a case for having a referendum, which is why we did it on devolution.”
While this morning’s interventions on Europe may be notable, Blair dodged questions on the current Labour leader, joking: “Leave aside the wisdom or otherwise of a Corbyn government for the moment … I won’t be drawn on that, today at least.”
The former Labour leader said it was important to understand that the reasons for staying in the EU today are not the same reasons for Britain joining decades ago: “It’s not about peace today it’s about power.”
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