Blair: Rise Up Against Brexit

British ex-premier, Tony Blair, has said it is his “mission” to persuade Britons to “rise up” and change their minds on Brexit.

Speaking in the city of London on Friday, Blair claimed that people voted in the referendum “without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit”, BBC reported.

He urged “a way out from the present rush over the cliff’s edge”.

Former Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, said the comments were arrogant and undemocratic but Lib Dem Nick Clegg said he “agreed with every word”.

Former UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, said Blair was “yesterday’s man” while Downing Street said it was “absolutely committed” to seeing Brexit through. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson added, “I urge the British people to rise up and turn off the TV next time Blair comes on with his condescending campaign.” Prime Minister Theresa May wants to trigger formal Brexit talks by the end of March, a move backed in the House of Commons by MPs last week.

Blair, who was UK prime minister between 1997 and 2007, used the speech to the pro-European campaign group Open Britain to argue that leaving the EU would be “painful” for Britain and Europe, and the benefits would be “largely illusory”. He said that while he accepted that people voted to leave by 52% to 48%, he would recommend looking again at Brexit when “we have a clear sense of where we’re going”.

Pressed on whether he thought there should be a second referendum, he said, “All I’m saying is a very, very simple thing, that this is the beginning of the debate-that if a significant part of that 52% show real change of mind, however you measure it, we should have the opportunity to reconsider this decision.”