Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has stepped up his war on Brexit, declaring that it is “possible” and “absolutely necessary” that the United Kingdom does not leave the European Union.
Speaking to Sky News four months after Article 50 was triggered and two days after the Great Repeal Bill was published, setting Britain on the path to exiting the EU, Mr. Blair, said: “I think it’s possible now that Brexit doesn’t happen.
“I think it’s absolutely necessary that it doesn’t happen because I think every day is bringing us fresh evidence that it’s doing us damage economically, certainly doing us damage politically,” said Blair, who was once tipped to become President of the European Council.
However, a recently published report suggests the British economy will in fact outperform those in the Eurozone over the coming years, and Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures released this week show that unemployment has plunged to a 43-year low.
Britain is also set to make a major trade deal with the U.S., with President Donald Trump announcing that he and Prime Minister Theresa May “have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries, and I think we will have that done very, very quickly” at the G20.
Australia is also seeking a trade deal with the UK, with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying the vision of a post-Brexit Britain was “filled with optimism”.
Expressing his belief Brexit voters will change their minds, the Iraq War architect told Sky News: “I think public opinion is moving on it.”
This is despite the fact that several polls have shown continued and even growing support for departure. One published in April showed Brexit support at a five-month high, and two further polls conducted in June showed a majority back the decision and would still vote Leave one year on from the historic decision.
Research conducted by the Remain-supporting Financial Times also shows the post-referendum Remain campaign in freefall, with only 22 per cent of those polled found to be ‘Hard Remainers’.
Analysis conducted by the FT further showed that besides the ‘Hard Remainers’ and ‘Hard Leavers’ (45 per cent), another sizeable group dubbed “Re-Leavers” (23 per cent) believe the Government now has a duty to take the country out of the bloc despite having initially voted Remain.
These pre-election findings were arguably reflected in the General Election result on June 8th. Despite the Conservative Party losing the majority in the election, and many Remain campaigners such as George Osborne and Anna Soubry seeing this as a mandate from voters for a “Soft Brexit”, both the Tories and the Labour Party made manifesto commitments to a Brexit that would take Britain out of the Single Market and end Freedom of Movement.
The Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalist Party, who openly opposed Brexit in their campaigns, both lost votes and seats, while the Social Democratic and Labour Party – which stood on a similar platform in Northern Ireland – was wiped out.
A committed globalist, Blair has vowed to “get his hands dirty” in frontline politics again, and intervened in the General Election by lending his support to Open Britain’s tactical voting offensive which aimed to unseat Brexit-supporting MPs and sabotage Britain’s exit from the EU.
Mr. Blair made headlines earlier in the week when the head of the Iraq Inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, said he did not believe Blair was “straight with the nation” about his decisions in the run-up to the war.