Tony Blair, ex Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, made a pre-election speech at the Xcel Centre in Newton Aycliffe today concentrating on Europe. Blair is known for his strong views and commitment to the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union. In the introduction to his speech he said:
“For me Europe is an important litmus test. I believe passionately that leaving Europe would leave Britain diminished in the world, do significant damage to our economy and, less obviously but just as important to our future, would go against the very qualities that mark us out still as a great global nation.
It would be a momentous decision.
Should the Conservatives be re-elected on May 7th, it is one which we will be called upon to make. If they win the election, they are committed to holding a referendum to decide whether Britain remains in the European Union. It will be held within two years. It will follow an attempt by the Government to re-negotiate the terms of Britain’s membership. The referendum will, for the first time since we joined Europe after years of trying unsuccessfully to do so, put exit on the agenda.
There are several oddities about the way this has come to pass. In the Leaders’ debate last week, Europe featured little and where it did, mainly as a route into the question of immigration. The truth is that the overwhelming majority of people in Britain will not decide their vote on the issue of Europe. Yet the vocal minority, for whom opposition to Europe is their raison d’etre, has already won this huge concession from the governing Party.”
The remainder of the speech can be found on The Office of Tony Blair website
Whether or not Blair can sway the British public to vote for the Labour party based on this intervention remains to be seen. There are some that believe he is still a charismatic figure. BBC deputy political editor James Landale remarked Mr Blair might have “enough lingering stardust to appeal to some voters”.
