Tony Blair wants to overturn Brexit because 'Brexiteers lied to the public'
TONY Blair has sensationally announced a plan to “overturn” Brexit in a bid to derail Britain’s decision to leave the European Union because he claims the promises made by Brexiteers were lies.
The former British Prime Minister slammed Vote Leave for its promise that £350 million per week would be funnelled back into the NHS if people voted for Brexit saying that it had been proved to be false.
He told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend on Sunday: “When the facts change, I think people are entitled to change their mind.”
And when asked if he wanted to reverse Brexit he added: “Yes, exactly so.”
Mr Blair was scathing about the state of the “crumbling” NHS saying that it was a national tragedy that it had been run into the ground.
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The shrewd politician, who has always been against Brexit, said that it was now clear that Vote Leave had completely deceived people.
He said: “A lot of people will have voted for Brexit on the basis that if you get out of Europe, all this money is going to come back and we can spend it on the health service. And that was a very specific promise made by the Brexiteers.
“It is now very clear I think: one, that there is no extra money for the health service through Brexit and, secondly, we’re actually going to be paying less money to the health service, not more money, because growth is down and because we’ve also got this huge bill for the European Union.
“So when the facts change, I think people are entitled to change their mind.”
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He is now determined to get a second referendum underway immediately.
But he shot down the idea that he was ignoring the will of the people who had voted to leave the EU in June 2016.
He said: “The will of the people is not something immutable. People can change their mind if the circumstances change.
“My belief is that, in the end, when the country sees the choice of this new relationship, it will realise that it’s either going to be something that does profound damage to the country, or alternatively, having left the European Union, left the single market, we will try and by some means recreate the benefit of that in some new relationship, in which case I think many people will think, ‘What’s the point?’”
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Mr Blair admitted that he would not be able to convince everyone that a second referendum on Brexit was a good idea - but he was willing to try.
He said: “There are some people who believe that membership of the European Union is inconsistent with national sovereignty. I don’t agree, but they hold that view very, very strongly. Nothing is going to persuade them.
“Then there are other people who, if you like, believe that the reason for being anti-Europe is that it’s too sclerotic and bureaucratic. And these are in many ways the people driving this Brexit thing intellectually. They are not going to be persuaded.”
Blair and Juncker: Together through the years
Thu, August 31, 2017Former Prime Minister, Tony Blair and President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker have always shared a friendly relationship over the years.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker (L) greets Former British prime minister Tony Blair upon his arrival for a meeting at the European Commission in Brussels
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British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Brussels for crucial talks on the state of Brexit negotiations today, with the outcome poised to set the agenda for the divorce terms between Britain and the EU.
Mrs May will be meeting with both EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Council President Donald Tusk hoping to reach enough progress on the divorce bill it has to pay, Irish border conditions and the rights of citizens in each other's nations for the negotiations to reach the next stage and include future trade relations.
