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Tony Blair predicts landslide for PM May, but warns 'unreasonable' Brexit policy is geared by right wing Tories

Monday, April 24th 2017 - 06:14 UTC
Full article 40 comments
Blair said polls suggested PM Theresa May's Conservatives were on course for a landslide victory and he “wasn't totally sure” what Labor’s position was on Brexit. Blair said polls suggested PM Theresa May's Conservatives were on course for a landslide victory and he “wasn't totally sure” what Labor’s position was on Brexit.
Theresa May is a “very sensible” and “a perfectly decent person” but her policy on leaving the EU is “not reasonable” and it is driven by the right wing of her party. Theresa May is a “very sensible” and “a perfectly decent person” but her policy on leaving the EU is “not reasonable” and it is driven by the right wing of her party.
Blair admitted he was tempted to return to the political scene and was supporting a campaign, to fund candidates who want to see another, “final” vote on exit deal. Blair admitted he was tempted to return to the political scene and was supporting a campaign, to fund candidates who want to see another, “final” vote on exit deal.

Tony Blair has urged voters not to elect MPs who “back Brexit at any cost”, whichever party they are from. The ex-PM told the BBC that Brexit was a bigger issue than party allegiance for the general election on 8 June.

 He said the Tories were likely to win but a big Labour vote could constrain the PM, whose “unreasonable” policy was being driven by her party's right wing. And he said he felt so passionately about Brexit he was “almost motivated” to re-enter British politics himself.

Mr. Blair stepped down from frontline politics in 2007 but has become more politically active in recent months, setting up a think tank in London to make the case for the centre ground and for continued EU membership.

He told the BBC that the opinion polls suggested Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives were on course for a landslide victory and he “wasn't totally sure” what Labor's position was on Brexit.

Speaking to Radio 4's World This Weekend, he said that voters need to know where candidates stood on leaving the EU. He described Theresa May as “very sensible” and “a perfectly decent person” but said her policy on leaving the EU was “not reasonable” and that it was driven by the right wing of her party.

He said: “The point is whether I'm Labour or I'm not Labour - even if there's Conservatives or Liberal Democrats - I will work with anyone to get this argument across in the country.”

He pledged to put pressure on candidates in each constituency to force them to declare where they stood on the mandate Mrs. May should have when negotiating the terms of Britain's exit from the EU. And he said he was supporting a campaign, also backed by anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, to fund candidates who want to see another, “final” vote on the exit deal.

Mr Blair said he feared that winning a large majority would effectively hand Theresa May “a blank check for Brexit at any costs”, which was not in the interests of the country. Although he has previously ruled out standing for Parliament again after an absence of 10 years, Mr Blair said: “I look at the British political scene at the moment and I actually almost feel motivated to go right back into it,” he added. “We're just allowing ourselves to be hijacked by what is actually quite a small group of people with a strong ideology”.

Categories: Politics, International.

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  • The Voice

    Wrong! Socialists chant slogans, thought you would like it as you are clearly a socialist. Don't worry you will grow up one day. Unfortunately your current leader never managed it.

    Apr 25th, 2017 - 12:55 pm +4
  • The Voice

    His statement shows how out of touch and biased he is. The circulation of right wing newspapers is about 5% of the UK population. People form their opinion largely from TV news and debate. BLiar no longer has any credibility, indeed he is a hated figure. Anything he says probably helps the Tories!

    Apr 24th, 2017 - 08:44 am +2
  • Brit Bob

    Blair and democracy don't sit too well on the same page - Peter Hain revealed in his memoirs that Tony Blair reached an agreement with the Spanish Government in 2002 to deliver the shared sovereignty of Gibraltar. 
    Makes it clear that he and Mr Blair were willing to trample on the objections of the people of Gibraltar in order to get his way, describing the attitude of Mr Blair to the inhabitants as “contempt”. (Daily Mail, January 24, 2012)

    And the Spanish view of Gib - Rajoy - “This is the only such territory in Europe, and one that affects our own territorial integrity,” Mr Rajoy said, claiming that Britain had “ignored the mandate” of the UN General Assembly. (Daily Telegraph 26 Sept 2013).

    So, according to the Spanish, territorial integrity, as per UN Resolution 1514 (XV) (1960), constrains the right to self-determination. Hm, let's take a look: Gibraltar – Territorial Integrity: https://www.academia.edu/29347730/Gibraltar_-Territorial_Integrity

    Apr 24th, 2017 - 09:42 am +2
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