Should Tony Blair comment on Brexit?

So if all those who think that he had no right in speaking about Brexit, would they also agree that no one else who isn't an MP does not have the right either?

Paddyann, believes Blair did little when PM .

It is rather amusing some who are so against Brexit think he should remain silent on being against Brexit

Fair comment Whitewave , seems everyone has a right to free speech except Blair

TB is as entitled to pass comment as Heseltine, Patten, Major. Like him or loathe him, he was a very important part of British politics for a very long time and his opinion cannot be dismissed just because the current Labour leadership don't like him. Frankly, if he was to form a new Remain party with Major, Heseltine, Clarke, Soubrey et all I would seriously consider voting for them I am so desperate for this catastrophe to be headed off. The Tories are still fighting amongst themselves, and Labour are not much better. Nobody is looking after my interests at the moment, they are all concerned about their own careers and party politics while we go careering towards financial disaster.

Exactly GillT57 you've said it how it is. The problem is that neither politicians nor media pundits are willing to challenge Brexit. So that leaves it to messrs. Blair, Heseltine, Major, Patten etc. True they no longer have any clout but they may just trigger a revolt in parliament which is the only hope for the country.

I so agree Gill, Corbyn wants out, always has. Blair's interview with Sophie Ridge this morning was so sensible,

Blair said in his article that he didn't want to start a new party. He wants to take over Labour again.

As a labour party member it is questionable whether he has freedom of speech - what is that all about, Rigby?

He thinks he is the Messiah so, of course, he can say what he likes.

Blair does not want to be an MP again, he has refused a seat in the Lords, unlike
Baroness Shami who got her bum on those seats after a few months membership of the Labour Party. Oh and after brining in the right verdict on anti semitism in the party

Agree with you Gill, if only that would happen. Feels like we're off towards the cliff edge like lemmings.

On the subject of TB, personally he was too far right for me, but I do applaud the Good Friday agreement which posters seem to have forgotten about.

He can say what he likes as long as I don't have to look at or listen to the smarmy git!

Too far right ?

Minimum wage,

Working tax credit

Child tax credit

Reduced vat on fuel

Winter fuel payments

Grants for loft insulation

Devolution

Good Friday agreement

Freedom information act

Adoption by gay couples legal

Civil partnership act

Lifted ban on gays in armed forces

Increase in child benefit

Good Friday agreement, which May seems intent on breaking.
Wasn't Corbyn involved in that?

Shou!d Tony Blair comment on Brexit?
Publicly, no!
Privately, if he wants to, he can!

No, Corbyn Was not involved in the good Friday agreement, this is a tale put out by vox pox , I was fair and asked a former N.I.Secretary, if it had been true I would say, he had supported the IRA for many years and was disliked very much by many in NI and not trusted by all , trusted very much by Sin Fein though in fairness

The credit goes to Mo Molam, John Major,Tony Blair and Bill Clinton

Ah Mo Molam, liked and respected by everyone I believe, certainly by me anyway. A very good politician and a good person, in my opinion.

ab good post re TB's achievements- I wonder when there'll ever be another PM with a list like that in any party.

Tony Blair may have been chatting unofficially to other EU countries in a way the government is unable to do and discovered discontent is more rife than appears. Perhaps there are several countries (including maybe even France by the sound of it) who would like to be "associate" EU members.

But I don't trust the man and think it may all be wishful thinking on his part. He seems to be good at that.

Rigby, it is fair to list some of the positives from the last Labour government , now forgotten or dismissed, as a labour member I am proud of these positives

Mmm, as a former student of Politics (many, many moons ago!) I would just throw this into the ring as it were...
Tony Blair is unique in being a Labour leader who was re-elected and had wide appeal to the electorate. As such the right wing have an agenda for continuing to vilify him - and they will then be quick to compare any future potential left wing PM to him.
Ever since the masses won the vote the right-wing owned news media have worked hard to put the mass of people off voting - by constantly denigrating all politicians as 'the same'. After Trump (and to a lesser extent Corbyn) they are now faced with the spector of mass participation.
They are right to be afraid - the essential conservatism of the propertied minority is easily overwhelmed when the masses are galvanised. Sadly part of the policy was not to educate pupils about our democracy - how it was achieved and the process itself. It ought to have been done as 'citizenship' perhaps as part of PSE but was never included because of the fear of 'lefty' teachers!The ignorant are less likely to question and easier to sway - history sadly tells us this.
So I do sympathise with Blair at having to endure such vitriol when, in my opinion, in a democracy our past leaders ought to be accorded respect (albeit in context).
Finally I would add that, as fans of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister will know, the civil service really run the country!

Whatever anyone thinks of Blair he has a perfect right to say whatever he pleases on any subject he pleases. We have a perfect right to listen or to ignore him as we feel fit.

As a former PM he will be acquainted with many people from the EU and has equally a perfect right to discuss Brexit with them. And to feed back on anything not said in confidence. After all, if you were, for e.g, sitting next to Barnier at dinner would you just talk about the weather and your grandchildren? (this is an extreme, imaginary and unlikely scenario; before you all leap in and ask me when he's sat next to Barnier at dinner etc.)

I so remember Mo at a party conference joining in Welsh night, with cries of 'get the English out' she said 'prove I have no Welsh blood ' much laughter . She was loved but her illness did affect her thinking towards the end

I agree Ab that the many positive social policies during TB's government have been forgotten because he is tainted by the Iraq war. I protested against this but I do believe that whichever government had been in power the outcome would have been the same. I am not a great fan of Blair's particularly the way he has behaved since leaving office, but I happen to agree with what he says about Brexit, that we as a country we are heading for economic disaster. If the Labour Party do not commit to stopping Brexit I believe they will lose the support of many of the newly recruited young voters who will suffer the consequences after Brexit of a much poorer country.

ab when I said TB was a bit right for me, I in no way intended to dismiss his achivements. On the contrary the whole point of the post was to emphasise his part in the Good Friday agreement in contradiction to all the negative comments being made about him.

Of course Blair has every right to speak out just as John Major, Nigel Lawson, Chris Patten etc.
I see that people are doing exactly the same about him as they do with the EU - dismiss all the positive stuff done over a number of years and keep bringing up a couple of points they disagree with.