Tony Blair is peddling a fantasy of the EU

Which “European leaders” told Tony Blair they might compromise on immigration to keep Britain in the EU – and where have they been for the past decade? Mr Blair claims that Brussels is suddenly keen on reform and “willing to consider changes to accommodate Britain, including around freedom of movement.” But Mr Blair’s description of a dynamic, innovative EU does not reflect the EU as we all know it. It does, however, reflect Mr Blair’s gift for spin.

Brussels has had plenty of opportunity to compromise. David Cameron tried to thrash out a deal in 2016, but all he brought home were some tweaks to migrant benefits and nothing to control numbers. A few weeks later, Britain definitively voted Leave. Europe’s leaders have now had a year to charm and bribe Britain. Instead, the country has been insulted.

The EU has threatened a huge divorce bill, warned that “frictionless trade” will end, and played a tough game over the rights of British expats. Even the sovereignty of Gibraltar has been touched upon. Mr Blair cites the election of Emmanuel Macron as proof that the European mood is changing, but the French president has demanded a “strict” approach to Brexit, which he calls a “crime” that will leave Britain in “servitude”.

Some EU leaders might be given to vindictive rhetoric, but at least they acknowledge what Mr Blair still cannot: Britain is leaving the EU. Militant Remainers have seized on the narrow result of the general election as a chance to throw up as many confused and confusing objections to a so-called “hard Brexit” – which is really just Brexit with some negative branding – as possible. Britain must remain in the single market, they say, or commit itself to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice or, most ridiculously of all, use the Brexit talks to negotiate continued membership of a reformed EU.

If it sounds like a fantasy, that’s because it is. Coming from Mr Blair, who oversaw the mass migration of Eastern European labour that turned so many Britons into Eurosceptics in the first place, it is all the more unbelievable.