Big two majorities ‘are a risk to UK’, warns Blair

EX-PM says Brexit deal puts Scottish independence ‘back on the table’

Scottish independence is “back on the table again” because of Brexit, Tony Blair has said.

The former Labour prime minister gave a speech in London on Brexit and the general election and said Boris Johnson’s deal – where Northern Ireland remains more closely aligned to the European Union than the rest of the UK – added “an additional dimension” to the nationalists’ argument.

Speaking to a Reuters Newsmakers event yesterday morning, Mr Blair said: “I don’t think campaigning for an independent Scotland is extreme. I just don’t agree with it.

“I think the United Kingdom is stronger if we’re all together, I think Scotland is better off inside the UK.

“But, you know, Brexit has put it back on the table again.

“This part of the other problem, I’m afraid, is that you’ve got a situation with Northern Ireland which is very tricky if the Johnson deal goes forward.

“You’ve got a situation where obviously the Scottish nationalists now have an additional dimension to their argument.

“I still don’t agree with it, but, you know, they’re going to be saying: ‘You’ve allowed Northern Ireland to stay inside the single market, why aren’t we allowed to, we also voted heavily against Brexit?”’

Mr Blair stressed that both the Conservatives’ pledge to end the UK’S transition period after Brexit at the end of 2020 with or without a deal and

Labour’s spending plans posed a “risk”.

Mr Blair said: “Both as majority governments pose a risk. It’s just that the chances I think of Labour doing that are – if the polls are right – negligible.”

He continued: “I don’t think a majority government of either side is a good thing.

“We have got to decide Brexit on its merits and then you’ve got to decide who runs the country on its merits.”

On Labour’s manifesto, Mr Blair said while its aims were good, it would be “difficult” to achieve.

He added: “Some of the things that underline the policy commitments, to tackle poverty, to tackle inequality, I mean this should definitely be the agenda of any modern government.”

He also branded the Tories’ plan to deliver Brexit a “fantasy” and said he would not trust Boris Johnson with a blank cheque and said the state of British politics is “utterly dysfunctional”.