Blair to tell Labour to vote down Brexit deal

Former PM says voters must be given another referendum on whether to stay in the EU

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday he would advise Labour Party lawmakers to vote down a Brexit divorce deal that Theresa May is trying to clinch with the European Union (EU).

Less than six months before the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, there is little clarity about how the world’s fifth largest economy and its pre-eminent international financial centre will trade with the EU after Brexit.

Blair, Labour prime minister from 1997 to 2007, said voters should be given another referendum on whether to stay in the EU as he saw deadlock in British politics.

If May can strike a deal with the EU, she has to get it approved by the British parliament which is divided on Brexit.

Labour has indicated it is likely to vote down any deal May brings back.

When asked at a Reuters newsmaker in London if he would advise Labour lawmakers to vote down a possible deal, Blair said: “It really is difficult ... the alternatives are all worse because if you do get to a blockage in parliament that is what opens up the possibility of going back to the people.