News

People are making this simple point about Tony Blair’s anti-Brexit rallying call

People are making this simple point about Tony Blair’s anti-Brexit rallying call

On Friday morning former prime minister Tony Blair gave a speech in which he called for EU Remain supporters to 'rise up in defence of what we believe'.

The historically pro-European Union Blair spoke at an event held by pressure group Open Britain.

Blair argued that the British people had been 'misinformed' during the referendum campaign, and should be given the right to change their minds.

The people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind,...Our mission is to persuade them to do so.

Extracts from the speech were given in advance to the media.

As such, even before Blair spoke, multiple people reminded him about the last time the people 'rose up' to protest a policy.

When thousands of people turned out to march through Westminster.

Furthermore, Blair's claim that the people had voted 'without full knowledge' was jumped on a hypocritical.

Many pointed out that Blair as prime minister had given evidence to the House of Commons regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), which later turned out to be inaccurate.

Blair also argued that a 'debilitated Labour' was 'facilitating' Brexit.

The debilitation of the Labour party is the facilitator of Brexit. I hate to say that, but it is true.

On 9 February, the current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attempted to force his MPs to vote for the bill that would give the government to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without further approval from parliament.

When Blair was prime minister, Corbyn was one of the 85 Labour MPs who voted against the Iraq War, and was also president of the Stop the War Coalition.

It is arguable that Corbyn's ascension to the party leadership was due in part to his record on the war, and his opposition to 'Blairism'.

The facilitation of Corbyn's rise, and Labour's subsequent 'debilitation' has been laid at Blair's door by more than one observer.

More: The amazing Tony Blair quote about Jeremy Corbyn never taking power

More: Tony Blair backed Remain, and then the inevitable happened

The Conversation (0)
x