Shropshire Star

Tony Blair on Brexit: Shropshire and Mid Wales MPs react to call for public to 'rise up'

Tony Blair's call for the public to "rise up" against Brexit has been met with a withering response from the region's MPs, with one claiming "it is the wrong person and it is the wrong strategy."

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The former Labour Prime Minster said "progressives" should make it their "mission" to reverse the outcome of the referendum last June.

Mr Blair said that when people had voted in the referendum they had not known the full cost of withdrawal – including the potential break-up of the UK, with Scottish independence now "back on the table" and with renewed credibility.

However, the suggestion has been dismissed by Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski, his North Shropshire colleague Owen Paterson, and Montgomeryshire MP, Glyn Davies.

Ludlow MP Phillip Dunne was equally dismissive, saying: "I would rather not comment on Tony Blair at this stage, I do not think he deserves a comment."

Mr Kawczynski, an ardent Brexit campaigner, insisted that Mr Blair's intervention would do more damage than good for those who wish to remain in the EU.

Daniel Kawczynski

He said: "48 per cent of people voted remain and it is very, very important that those of us promoting Brexit are held to account, but it is it is very unfortunate that he has come to the fore.

"The controversial nature of him as a person and his background and what he has done historically means we have even had Labour MPs who are staunch remainers, tweeting that what he is doing is very unhelpful. It is damaging their cause. Actually I think it will damage their cause because this is not a universally popular man.

"This is a time when because of disarray in the Labour party with Mr Corbyn and his MPs voting against his instructions to support Brexit, it is important there is a strong robust critical analysis of how it is done, but he has made a big mistake calling for a second referendum."

He added: "It is the wrong person and it is the wrong strategy."

Mr Paterson warned that a failure to carry through on the result of the referendum would lead to a constitutional crisis.

He said: "This is the biggest vote in British history on a single issue. If we do not take back control as demanded by the British people then there will be the most shattering damage to the whole integrity of the political class, something which Tony Blair has contributed to himself already."

Glyn Davies MP

Mr Davies said he believed Mr Blair's comments would make no difference and "will be forgotten about tomorrow".

He said: "I am not in the least bit surprised. Tony Blair wanted us to join the Euro, he is a European enthusiast. He will be appalled that the British people disagreed with his views.

"I do not think it will make any difference at all. It will be forgotten about tomorrow."

In a speech Mr Blair had criticised leave campaigners for misleading the public over the suggestion of spending £350 million a week on the NHS instead of Europe.

He said: "The ideologues are the ones driving this bus. This free market vision would require major re-structuring of the British economy and its tax and welfare system.

"It will not mean more money for the NHS, but less; actually it probably means a wholesale rebalancing of our healthcare towards one based on private as much as public provision."

He said that people had voted without being told what the terms included, and that people should be able to decide if they agree with them or not.

He said: "I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to re-think. But 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.

"I don't know if we can succeed. But I do know we will suffer a rancorous verdict from future generations if we do not try.

"This is not the time for retreat, indifference or despair; but the time to rise up in defence of what we believe – calmly, patiently, winning the argument by the force of argument; but without fear and with the conviction we act in the true interests of Britain."

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