Tony Blair: Labour will vote down Brexit
Former prime minister Tony Blair. Photo: PA / Stefan Rousseau - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Tony Blair thinks the Tories will be forced to support a People's Vote because he believes Labour will scupper any Brexit plan put before MPs.
Blair says the choices are 'pretty narrow' for what Theresa May can do to find a solution to her Brexit woes.
The former prime minister has predicted 'gridlock' and 'paralysis' in the House of Commons because May is unable to command a majority on either a hard or soft Brexit.
He told Bloomberg: 'If she goes soft Brexit you've got people like Boris Johnson who will vote against it. If she goes hard Brexit she's got the other wing of the party who will vote against that.'
And he said the paralysis will be sparked by Labour's opposition to Brexit.
You may also want to watch:
'The Labour party will vote against virtually any proposition the government puts forward,' he said. 'You either crash out with no deal… or alternatively you have a general election. For the Conservative party to have a general election on the issue of Brexit would be a crazy thing to do.'
A People's Vote was the 'rational thing' to do, the former PM added.
Most Read
- 1 Leave EU website suspended after EU registry blocks move to Ireland
- 2 Comedian wins praise after shaming No 10 during Dancing on Ice appearance
- 3 Television drama to focus on Boris Johnson's first year in Downing Street
- 4 Boris Johnson blames seafood companies for post-Brexit sales slump
- 5 Progressive alliance could see Labour win 351 seats at next election, new analysis reveals
- 6 Boris Johnson claims Labour supporters using Universal Credit vote to incite hatred
- 7 Michael Gove among 14 Tory MPs revealed to have joined banned Parler app
- 8 Priti Patel fails to appear in Commons to answer questions on missing police records
- 9 UK has highest Covid-19 death rate in world
- 10 Dominic Raab 'not convinced' collapse of fishing businesses would be result of Brexit deal
'Therefore even if people are saying we're not going to have another vote, if you end up with that paralysis that logical way out is to go back to the people, and it is the rational thing to do.
'We've been over two years trying to negotiate this thing now. We're really not a great deal further on from where we were in the beginning. That's why I say in the end people are going to look at this and say 'well how do you resolve this?''
Asked whether he thought his contributions to the Brexit debate were helpful or not, Blair said: 'This is a moment of national crisis for my country, this is going to decide the destiny of Britain for many generations to come. If you feel passionately and strongly about it you've got a right to speak out about it. There will be lots of debate about who is the best person to speak about it or not speak, but this is an issue of which it is important the arguments are made and I intend to carry on making them.'
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
