Blair: I will back Leave (if it wins in 2nd referendum)
TONY Blair has said that he will back Brexit if the country votes for it again in a second referendum.
The former prime minister said the Government should abandon Theresa May’s plan as it fails to satisfy Leave voters.
He also hinted that Labour was moving towards backing another referendum, as it emerged that John McDonnell has met with members of the People’s Vote campaign group. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Mr Blair said of his party backing a second vote: ‘I think it’s moving that way. I would be really surprised if the Labour Party doesn’t end up in the position of supporting another vote, because there’s no other proposition that can get through Parliament.’ He suggested that another referendum – with a choice between remaining in the EU and a ‘proper Brexit’ sought by Leave campaigners such as Boris Johnson – would settle the issue.
‘Both the Remain campaign and the Leave campaign should jointly agree that this vote is final, doesn’t matter how marginal it is, it’s final,’ he said. ‘Whatever way we vote, that’s it. And I promise you this ... for people like me who voted Remain, if the country votes again to Leave I accept it and I’ll get behind it and try and make it work.’ He said the country faced the prospect of a ‘pointless or a painful Brexit’ – referring to Mrs May’s plan versus a no-deal exit.
He paid tribute to the Prime Minister, saying he believed she was ‘a decent person, frankly surrounded by a lot of pretty unreasonable ones’, but added: ‘The deal’s a dodo.’
His comments came as it emerged that Mr McDonnell held secret talks with the People’s Vote campaign last week, amid signs that Labour might support a second referendum.
The shadow chancellor hosted Tom Baldwin and Alistair Campbell, former spin doctors to Ed Miliband and Tony Blair respectively, in his Commons office. The meeting came after Mr McDonnell saw figures that showed Labour voters overwhelmingly back a second referendum, The Sunday Times reported. The Labour leadership has come under pressure from members, grassroots activists and the party’s MPs to back a second vote.
There were also reports that Laura Parker, national director of the pro-Corbyn Momentum campaign group, attended a rally this month in support of a second referendum.
Sources close to Mr McDonnell told The Sunday Times that a general election was a higher priority than another referendum. Mr McDonnell said: ‘I was happy to meet representatives from the People’s Vote campaign simply to map out what options are available to us based upon conference policy, which includes the option of a public vote.’
A YouGov poll commissioned by the People’s Vote camp found that if MPs rejects Mrs May’s deal, 53 per cent back having another referendum.
The poll also found that 60 per cent of Labour voters would be upset if the party helped to push Brexit through. Some 84 per cent of the public, and two-thirds of Labour voters, said the party’s Brexit policy remains unclear.
‘I’d get behind it and try and make it work’