Brexit-related commentary by the former British Prime Minister received a cold welcome on social media platforms, with some arguing his disapproval of current government strategy is actually a “seal of approval.”
Tony Blair has spoken out on the future of Brexit talks and the possibility of a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“I think if you have another referendum it really will bring closure. People like myself accept if the country votes to leave again, that’s it. But I think if you leave without going back to the people, with this mess and in these circumstances, there will be even greater division,” he said in an interview.
In another interview, the former Labour Party leader called the Brexit process “a mess” with “no agreement as to what the future trading relationship with Europe should be.”
A second referendum, a route so far dismissed by the Theresa May’s Tory government, would give Britain a conclusive result, Tony Blair argued.
“Look, we are going back to the people. We are not asking anyone else, we are asking them. We’ve had thirty months of negotiation. There’s a much clearer knowledge now of what Brexit really means. There’s a much greater understanding of all the issues around it and I think it is not unreasonable in these circumstances to ask people whether they want to think again,” Blair said.
https://twitter.com/ToryFibs/status/1088032120407236608
Given his record of misleading the government and the British public in the past, specifically when the former PM committed Britain to war in Iraq in 2003 without consulting “Foreign and Defence Secretaries, let alone the rest of the Cabinet,” reactions to Blair’s opinion on what the British public should poured online.
https://twitter.com/business/status/1088354458386411520
https://twitter.com/ShamaLondon/status/1088357424917082112
The butcher of Irak cannot speak in public.He deserves life prison sentence
— G.DANIELDS (@GDANIELDS) January 24, 2019
Earlier last year, Theresa accused Blair of backing a second referendum, saying that his statements were deliberately sabotaging her bid to persuade EU leaders to compromise on the Irish backstop.
Blair has called May “irresponsible”, saying that he was speaking out in the national interest and in the interest of democracy when he called for a second referendum.