Tony Blair today branded Brexit a ‘mistake of destiny’ as he renewed calls for a rethink and a second referendum.
The former Prime Minister became the latest Remain supporter to make a desperate plea to Theresa May to cancel Brexit ahead of her major speech tomorrow.
Speaking in Brussels today Mr Blair insisted it was wrong to say cancelling Brexit was impossible and insisted ‘anything can happen’.
Mr Blair’s new intervention comes a day after former Tory PM Sir John Major enraged Brexiteers with a demand for MPs to be given a free vote on the deal.
Tony Blair (pictured today in Brussels) said EU leaders needed to join forces with UK politicians to reverse the verdict from the referendum nearly two years ago
The former Prime Minister became the latest Remain supporter to make a desperate plea to Theresa May to cancel Brexit ahead of her major speech tomorrow
The former Labour leader insisted Europe was ripe for reform and that changes would open the door to Britain changing its mind.
He said: ‘If, at this moment, Europe was to offer a parallel path to Brexit of Britain staying in a reforming Europe, that would throw open the debate to transformation.
‘People will say it can’t happen.
‘To which I say in these times in politics anything can happen.’
In a call to Mrs May, he said: ‘It doesn’t take a miracle. It takes leadership. And now is when we need it.’
Earlier, Mr Blair said it was ‘sickening’ that the Good Friday Agreement – which he helped negotiate – was being ‘sacrificed’ on the ‘altar of Brexit’.
He also warned that a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic was inevitable unless Britain stays inside a customs union with the EU.
The comments came in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Mr Blair said: ‘The problem that she (Mrs May) has is that there is no way round the dilemma.
‘What she thinks is that it’s possible to get the European Union to give us access to Europe’s markets without the same obligations that the rest of Europe has in the single market.
‘That is not possible. It’s not a question of a tough negotiation or a weak negotiation, it literally is not going to happen.
‘So the dilemma you have is you’re either going to have to stay close to Europe to minimise economic damage, in which case you abide by Europe’s rules, or you’re free from Europe’s rules, in which case you’re going to have economic damage.’
Mr Blair’s new intervention comes a day after former Tory PM Sir John Major (pictured in London yesterday) enraged Brexiteers with a demand for MPs to be given a free vote on the deal
Mr Blair repeated his criticism of Brexiteers who dismiss the impasse in negotiations over maintaining a soft Irish border.
‘I find it not just disappointing but sickening that people should really be prepared to sacrifice peace in Northern Ireland on the altar of Brexit,’ he said.
He said Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to a customs union with the EU to maintain a soft border and maintain tariff-free trade was ‘sensible’, but warned Labour will ‘very soon find that we’ve got to move further in order to escape the dilemma ourselves’.
In his speech later, Mr Blair is expected to urge EU leaders to take steps to address concerns about immigration.
The former premier will warn European politicians they share the responsibility to ‘lead us out of the Brexit cul-de-sac’.
Mr Blair will argue that the British people should be given a final say on the Brexit deal – and if EU leaders offer further concessions, the public could change its mind on leaving the bloc.
He will set out three steps which could lead to a ‘reconsideration of Brexit’.
Theresa May gave an angry response at PMQs yesterday (pictured) as Eurocrats were accused of tabling demands that would effectively ‘annex’ Northern Ireland
The UK’s preferred options for an open border controlled under a free trade agreement and using technology will not be set out in the draft treaty, published by Michel Barnier (pictured in Brussels yesterday)
The first would be to demonstrate to the British people that what they were told in June 2016 ‘has turned out much more complex and costly than they had thought’.
Remainers must also show that there are better ways to respond to the ‘genuine underlying grievances beneath the Brexit vote, especially around immigration’.
And Mr Blair will insist EU leaders must accept the Brexit vote is a ‘wake-up call’ to change and ‘not just an expression of British recalcitrance’.
Mr Blair will tell the European Policy Centre think tank: ‘Reform in Europe is key to getting Britain to change its mind.’
He will call for ‘a comprehensive plan on immigration control, which preserves Europe’s values but is consistent with the concerns of its people and includes sensitivity to the challenges of the freedom of movement principle’.
There should also be a ‘roadmap for future European reform’ which would be ‘timely for the evolving British debate on Brexit’.