Tony Blair galvanised by Brexit
Former British prime minister Tony Blair has warned in a commentary piece that other countries may leave the EU, and called for a new referendum on Brexit. Some commentators are annoyed by the former leader's refusal to accept that the UK wants to leave the EU. Others advise the Labour Party to pay close attention to Blair's arguments.
Ex-prime minister hasn't understood a thing
Blair simply can't accept the fact that the British have voted against EU dominance and against Blairism, author David Green writes in his blog with The Spectator:
“The 2016 referendum signalled not only the end of the supremacy of EU oligarchs but also struck a blow against the culture of propagandist opinion management in which Mr Blair specialised.The strategy of EU rulers has always been to keep on pushing until they get their way. If referendums go against them, then make the people vote again. Mr Blair is trying to continue this tradition, but we all knew exactly what we were doing in 2016. The negotiations may or may not have a beneficial outcome, but they have no bearing on the decision to leave.”
Labour should follow Blair's approach
The Labour Party should pay attention to Blair's proposals, The Guardian believes:
“His arguments are a wake-up call for the political year. As Blair says, 2018 is when real decisions must be made - about the terms, about soft or hard Brexit, and about a referendum on the final deal. ... Britain faces several domestic political crises at the start of 2018, all of them made worse by Brexit. Labour is within sight of winning power, but still some way off. Its chances will depend in significant part on how it behaves as a party between now and what may be a distant election, and upon its ability to persuade those who were unpersuaded in June 2017.”
Brexit must be stopped
If the Brexit isn't stopped the UK and the EU will face years of stalemate, economist Anatole Kaltesky fears in Jornal de Negócios:
“What, then, will happen at the end of the transition period in April 2021? The only plausible answer is a further transition, if only to avoid an economically devastating rupture in trade regulations just before the UK general election due in 2022. ... If a hard Brexit is economically unacceptable to British business and Parliament, a soft Brexit is politically unacceptable to EU leaders, and a fake Brexit is unacceptable to almost everyone, that leaves just one alternative: no Brexit. It is still entirely possible to abandon Brexit by revoking Britain's withdrawal notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.”