Tony Blair teases political return to get ‘hands dirty’ in fight against Brexit
Controversial former UK Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that he is going to return to UK politics, motivated by Brexit and willing to change the situation amid the debates on the terms of the exit from the EU.
“This Brexit thing has given me a direct motivation to get more involved in the politics,” he said in an interview to the Daily Mirror on Sunday, adding that he is ready to get his “hands dirty.”
While Blair says he is not going to take part in the general election or “turn something into a political movement,” he wants to seek support for his ideas. He has been standing against Brexit for a long time, and warned again about the dangers of following through with “Brexit no matter what the cost.” Advocating for the benefits of the free single European market, the former British Prime Minister said that Britain would “relegate” itself from the “Champions League.”
Despite the majority of British citizens having voted for Brexit last year and the fact that the UK has triggered Article 50, initiating its formal withdrawal from the European Union, Blair thinks “people may change when they see the final deal.”
Blair also acknowledged that not everybody would be happy with his comeback.
“I know the moment I stick my head out the door I'll get a bucket of whatsit poured all over me, but I really do feel passionate about this,” he told the Daily Mirror.
One of the youngest and most controversial British politicians, Blair became PM in 1997 after a landslide victory in the general election. However, his head-spinning approval ratings plummeted in 2003, when he had the UK follow the US invasion of Iraq.
READ MORE: UK govt top lawyer seeking to block prosecution of Tony Blair over Iraq War - media
Last year that controversial step received one more push, after revelations by Sir John Chilcot's Iraq Inquiry that Blair had deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime and the invasion came before peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted.
Following the revelations, families of British service personnel killed in Iraq called for Blair to face criminal charges. However, UK Attorney-General Jeremy Wright QC has tried to prevent legal prosecution, according to British media reports.
