Tony Blair: "Why #Brexit is also bad for Europe"

Tony Blair says that as Brexit is “momentous and life-changing for Britain” the British people should be given a final say on whatever deal is negotiated. He said, “If they are allowed that say, then Brexit can be averted. I and many others will work passionately for that outcome.”

Blair was speaking in Brussels on Thursday  on “why Brexit is also bad for Europe, and why European leaders share the responsibility to lead us out of the Brexit cul-de-sac and find a path to preserve European unity intact.”

Tony Blair at EPC meeting

Speaking at the European Policy Centre event, he said that for the first time since its inception, a nation, “and a major one at that, will have disrupted the onward march of European cohesion, left the European Union and will have done so apparently for reasons of principle at odds with the whole rationale for the Union’s existence.”

He told a packed audience, which include several MEPs, that Britain without Europe “will lose weight and influence.”

Blair, the former Labour leader who served as UK Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, warned that Europe without Britain will be “smaller and diminished.”

“And,” he argued, “both of us will be less than we are and much less than we could be together.”

He said that in the UK, the public had been told that ‘the people have spoken’ and to interrogate the question further is “treachery.”

Blair said, The ‘will of the people’ is deemed clear and indisputable, though what that ‘will’ means in practice given the complexity of Brexit, the multiple interpretations of it, and the differing consequences of each version, is – with every day which passes – not clear at all.”

He went on, “But, nonetheless, we are told we must just do it.”

In Europe, Blair, who oversaw the peace process for Northern Ireland, said that there is “often a sorrowful shaking of heads and a shrugging of the shoulders” over Brexit.

But he said that what was needed is, rather, “strong engaged leadership to avoid a rupture which will do lasting damage to us both.”

He said, I understand European reticence. Until Europe sees real signs that there could be a change of mind in Britain, why should it contemplate the possibility of change in Europe?

“However, the argument in Britain is far from over. It is in flux.”

There are three legs to the stool upon which could sit a reconsideration of Brexit, he suggested.

The first is to show the British people that what they were told in June 2016 has turned out much more complex and costly than they thought.

“This leg is looking increasingly robust as time goes on,” he said.

The second is to show that there are “different and better” ways of responding to the genuine underlying grievances beneath the Brexit vote, especially around immigration.

Blair said, “This leg is easy to construct but needs willing workers.”

The third leg is an “openness” on the part of Europe to respond to Brexit by treating it as a ‘wake-up’ call to change in Europe and not just an expression of British recalcitrance. This is the leg to focus on today.

“The stool needs all three legs,” warned Blair, also a former envoy to the Middle East.

He said that at a time when America appears pre-occupied with its own political upheaval and is “hard to read and easy to parody” Europe should be “far-sighted enough” to keep the alliance strong and to send a message to the rest of the world that Europe will “grow in power in the 21st  century.”

But he warned, “None of this can in any way be advanced by Britain’s departure from Europe."

Brexit, he said, "rips out" of Europe one of the alliance’s most sustained advocates; weakens Europe’s standing and power the world over and reduces the effectiveness of the Single Market by removing from it Europe’s second largest economy.

“And Britain out of Europe will ultimately be a focal point of disunity, when the requirement for unity is so manifest. No matter how we try, it will create a competitive pole to that of Europe, economically and politically to the detriment of both of us.”

Blair called for a second referendum in which the British people would reject Brexit.

He explained “why Brexit is also bad for Europe, and why European leaders share the responsibility to lead us out of the Brexit cul-de-sac and find a path to preserve European unity.”

On the possibility of a 2nd vote and overturning Brexit, Blair said, “People will say it can't happen.To which I say in these times in politics anything can happen.

“In any event, it depends on what magnitude of decision you think this is.”

Blair, who now runs the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said, “Let's be clear. Even if Brexit is Britain’s future, and yours is a European Union without Britain, we can't alter our geography, history or manifold ties of culture and nature. This is a divorce that can never mean a physical separation.

“We are consigned to co-habiting the same space, trying to get along but resenting our differences and re-living what broke us apart, awkward silences at the breakfast table, arguing over the rules with no escape from each other.”

With the clock ticking on Britain’s exit, he sought to champion support for the Remain side, saying, “It doesn't take a miracle. It takes leadership. And now is when we need it.

The speech was followed by a question & answer session moderated by EPC Chief Executive Fabian Zuleeg, who commented: "It transpires from Mr Blair's speech that the terms of the debate have not changed. As President Tusk said at an EPC event 16 months ago, the only alternative to hard Brexit is no Brexit. But, clearly, time is running out now."

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