Should Tony Blair comment on Brexit?

But Blair says he wants to stay in the Labour Party despite doing research about renewing the centre.
It doesn't work like that.

PR whitewave, that would mean we could have as many parties as we want and then they could broadly coalesce to their hearts content.

I know there has been lots of moves from the Greens of a broad left coalition, I suppose this is different

I think preparations are being made for a new centre party Jen. However, this is not an auspicious time. Much as they may not want to admit it the left of centre need the current Labour Party to balance out the current Tory Party which has been dragged so far to the right. There is no good seeing the Cons as a possible right of centre party (which they have been at times in our history) when they are driven by a hard right minority.

I feel the same as you ww however much they may annoy.

Blair has every right to comment about Brexit, even if he shouts it from the top of the roof, he has every right to do so in our liberal democracy, and as long as I have breath I will fight for anyone to do the same, unless they are inciting hatred, violence or racism.

I may not agree with a lot of what I consider idiots and what they say, but they have every right to irritate me to death. Just as people do on GN

Why not renew the centre ?

For someone who doesn't want to start a new party but stay in the labour party, it seems strange that lots of his institute is about Renewing the Centre.

Blair's article, GracesGran, from Blair's Institute for Global Change.

institute.global/news/brexit-and-centre

No GG

Sorry AB, I don't understand the question if it is intended for me.

Or Corbyn against anyone not fir left ?

I meant the interview on Sophy Ridge on Sunday today Jen. He certainly didn't make personal comments about Corbyn but thought he was not supplying the right solution to the current problem.

The SRoS interviews do seem to be released but this has not been yet. If you have access to Sky News it is being repeated at 9.30 p.m.

I was interested to hear (only a little) his view on how the Germans are dealing with globalisation and AI. Would like to have heard more of that.

I found it a very difficult article to read, GracesGran, possibly because of my antipathy to Blair.
Does that make me as bad as Blair towards Corbyn?

Should Tony Blair comment on Brexit? Well he certainly may if he chooses to and whether he should or not only he can decide. Do I care if you believe he should or should not - not a jot. All I have to decide is whether to listen to him - which, from some of the comments I have read on this thread, is more than some posters did before giving an opinion or rather voicing a prejudice.

I found the interview thoughtful, interesting and he seemed to understand the situation rather more than most of the current politicians. I have no idea what he can do about our current trajectory into oblivion and I didn't get the impression that he did but he did seem to feel he couldn't do nothing which I would applaud.

If TB's "informal chats" with the EU have as much success as he did in his role as Middle East Peace Envoy, he'll be pretty ineffective anyway.

I marched in London and Cardiff against Iraq war but it doesn't change my opinion on Blair , he and Brown brought the party out if the wilderness years , won three elections and I never considered him to be to the right. He will be for the far left , who took the party into the wilderness years.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.)

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!

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

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.