News / Politics

Tony Blair in talks to return to British politics: Report

Sunday, 20 November 2016 10:15 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 20 November 2016 10:24 AM ]

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (File photo)

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is positioning himself to return to politics, seeking an office close to Parliament to shape the Brexit negotiations, according to a report.

Blair is understood to have held talks with senior British ministers and officials recently to engineer a comeback, The Sunday Times reported.

Blair’s operations team is reportedly considering three potential sites for a new office near Westminster to relocate his 130 staff.

“He’s not impressed with Theresa May. He thinks she’s a total lightweight. He thinks [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn’s a nutter and the Tories are screwing up Brexit. He thinks there’s a massive hole in British politics that he can fill,” a source told the newspaper.

Since leaving Downing Street in 2007, Blair has largely remained disengaged in British politics because of his controversial instigation of the country’s involvement in the US-led war in Iraq.

The former Labour politician has been in close contact with former Chancellor George Osborne recently to discuss the exit from the European Union.

“Tony and George have been speaking and meeting and have had lots of conversations about the post-Brexit political climate,” the source said.

On June 23, nearly 52 percent of British people voted to leave the EU, after 43 years of membership, a decision that sent shockwaves throughout the world.

Last month, Blair called for a second EU referendum to be held when it becomes clearer what a withdrawal would actually mean for the future of the UK.

According to a memo recently leaked from the Cabinet Office, the UK government is overwhelmed by the amount of work that is needed to withdraw from the bloc.

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London on November 16, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Last month, the UK High Court ruled that an exit should be approved in the Parliament; further delaying Prime Minister May’s plans to trigger the Lisbon Treaty’s Article 50 and begin the process by March 2017 and finish it in two years.

The high court dealt another blow to May’s hopes of a smooth Brexit on Friday, ruling that the Scottish and Welsh governments can intervene in the process.

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