Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair considered this Saturday that the United Kingdom’s return to the European Union, which it left after a referendum in 2016, is not on the horizon for many years.
“The question of whether and how the United Kingdom will return to the European Union is for a future generation. I think this is the reality”, said Tony Blair, in an interview with AFP and the European news agencies Ansa, DPA and Efe, the from its Institute for Global Change office in central London.
The 69-year-old former Labor leader was firmly opposed to ‘Brexit’, having campaigned in Northern Ireland to prevent the consequences in the province, rocked by three decades of violence until the peace agreement signed in April 1998.
“I think the debate in the UK right now is more about how far we are going to rebuild a strong relationship with Europe. That’s what we should do, in my opinion, and I hope the Labor Party thinks so too,” added Blair.
According to the former Prime Minister, the United Kingdom and the EU have many issues in common to deal with, such as energy and climate, research or even defense and security after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“I think cooperation in terms of technology is very important”, he said. “Because otherwise Europe, of which the United Kingdom is a part, will be crushed between two technological giants, which are the United States and China, and even by a third, India”.
Blair understands that the current Labor leader, Keir Starmer, does not want to reopen the possibility of returning to the EU, an issue “that divides” society, but he also defends that his party should not apologize for having positioned itself against the ‘Brexit ‘, as the harmful effects were noticed.
“The immediate task is to solve the Brexit problems. The damage is manifest, it was predictable and it was predicted. And the other important thing is something I’ve seen around the world because my institute works in 35 different countries: a strengthening of cohesion region”, he underlined.
Regarding the possibility of Labor winning the elections scheduled for next year, Blair is optimistic because he sees in Starmer “a very sensible type and someone who gives the impression of being able to run the country”, although at the same time he admits that Sunak is to “repair the wreckage” left by his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
AH // VM
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