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Tony Blair, who was one of the most prominent activists for a second referendum on EU membership, has said that he would have backed Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels in the Commons.
The former prime minister revealed that he would have supported Labor leader Keir Starmer, who whipped his MPs into voting for the prime minister’s deal with the EU last week before the end of the transition period.
Starmer, who also backed permanence during the 2016 vote and called for a second referendum in 2019 while serving as Brexit shadow secretary, faced pressure from his own party ranks over his decision to support the deal, despite to criticize him as “thin”. .
Three young Labor judges resigned after defying Starmer and refusing to vote on the deal. They were among the 36 party parliamentarians who abstained. A Labor MP went further and voted against the deal, which went through the parliamentary approval process on December 30.
Starmer, who before becoming leader last year accepted that Johnson’s election victory in late 2019 “ruined” the case for a second Brexit referendum, had declared Labor support for the prime minister’s trade deal with the EU after an agreement was reached at Christmas. Eve.
When asked if he would have voted for the agreement in the Commons, Blair, one of the most prominent members of the group of those left during the 2016 Brexit referendum, told Times Radio on Sunday: “I would have backed the leader [Keir Starmer] in this. I mean, look, it’s a tactical question for the Labor Party because the problem is … that their opponents can say that if they don’t support the deal, then they are voting for a no-deal. “
He continued: “I would have supported the leader in that. Look, there was a case to abstain and there was a case to … vote in favor because the alternative is not an agreement. “
He added: “I don’t think it is particularly important to the Labor Party in any way. I think what matters is that we are still in a position where we are pointing out what the problems are with this deal. “
Separately, in an article published Sunday, Blair argued that while he was “passionately opposed” to Brexit and had not changed his mind about its “wisdom”, it was now “reality” and “we must make the most of it.” ”.
Johnson, meanwhile, confirmed that he would continue as prime minister after Brexit and tried to downplay bureaucratic issues over trade after the UK formally severed ties with the EU following the end of the transition period at 11 p.m. Thursday.
“Of course there will be changes and we have made that clear,” the prime minister told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, adding: “Actually, I think there is a great opportunity for British SMEs. [small and medium-sized enterprises] and exporters of all kinds ”.
He continued: “What we have seen is that many companies in this country do not export the way they could… the tragic reality of. .. business life is that there is some bureaucracy, we are trying to eliminate it, but we have a great opportunity to expand our horizons and think globally and think big ”.
When asked if he would continue as prime minister after Brexit, Johnson said: “Yes.”
The prime minister added: “We now have freedoms that we have not had for 50 years and there are many reasons to be very positive about this otherwise bleak New Year.”
