Tony Blair says Labour and Tories would be 'swept away' after a no-deal Brexit
2 min read
Britain will face a “silent revolution” that will sweep Labour and the Conservative party away if it leaves the EU without a deal, Tony Blair warned today.
The former Prime Minister and Labour leader suggested Brits angry at the prospect of a no-deal Brexit could end up rioting on the streets.
He made the comments after he launched a stinging attack on Labour’s current Brexit policy and urged voters disillusioned with the party to back other pro-Remain groups at the upcoming European Parliament elections.
Pro-EU grandee Mr Blair wants a second EU referendum and has urged voters to reject the new Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage at the ballot box.
The Brexit Party is on course to win the poll, but Mr Blair warned on Sky News that its central policy of a no-deal Brexit would spark a reckoning in British politics from moderates and Remain supporters.
“If we go ahead and tumble out of the EU with a no-deal Brexit of the sort that Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson and people want, you are going to get a silent revolution in this country as well,” he told the Sophy Ridge show.
“There are going to be people who are going to feel so strongly about this - I just say this to both main political parties: they are going to sweep them away.”
He also suggested fears about pro-Brexit parties “rioting on the streets” and displaying “outbursts of populism” would apply to the other side of the debate.
Elsewhere, in an article for the Observer, Mr Blair said the “destructive indecision” of the Labour Brexit policy had seen the party punished at the local elections earlier this month.
He said he would vote Labour at the EU elections on 23 May, but said those who are unhappy with its position should back the “unequivocal Remain parties” - the Lib Dems, Change UK, Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru.
“But whatever you do, vote!” he argued. “This is not a vote to choose a prime minister or a government. It is a vote for the Farage Brexit – or against it.”
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