Tony Blair has said voters “have the right” to change their minds and the UK could remain inside the European Union (EU) if public opinion shifts, demanding Europhiles continue to push ‘project fear’.
“I did not agree with the referendum, I do not think it was necessary,” the former Labour Prime minister said, speaking on French radio station Europe 1.
More than two months since the biggest democratic mandate in the history of British democracy was given to leaving the supranational bloc, he insisted Remain supporters should continue to warn of the “costs and consequences” of Brexit.
“Who made a rule that we have to stop the debate now?” he said.
Unfortunately for Mr. Blair, the FTSE, consumer spending, and business confidence are all up since the referendum. Mr. Blair acknowledged that overturning the decision did not currently look “probable”.
However, he continued: “We have done something rather bizarre with Brexit… It’s like moving house without having seen the new house.
“We have made an agreement to exchange, but we don’t yet know the terms of Brexit, we don’t know the costs and the consequences.”
He added: “There will come a moment when we have had the negotiations and we can see the terms we are being offered by the rest of Europe and we will be able to say that it is a good idea or perhaps that it is a bad idea with major consequences.”
Mr. Blair is a life-long supporter of the EU who campaigned against Brexit. “Across Europe there is a reaction against authority, against globalisation. There is also the issue of migration,” he said in the interview.
He also defended globalisation and mass migration at the end of August, insisting it is “good for a country” as it “brings fresh energy” and “lowers the age of the work force”.
Earlier in August, he slammed “uneducated” voters for “pushing back against globalisation”, and in March, he told unemployed British workers “not to blame migrants for having taken your job”, instructing them to get a better education so they can “operate in the modern world”.