News / Politics

Brexit causing 'severe damage', must be halted: Blair

Saturday, 15 July 2017 1:56 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 15 July 2017 2:36 PM ]

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair (Photo by AFP)

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned against Britain's planned exit from the European Union, saying stopping Brexit was "necessary."

It is necessary for Britain to remain in the EU bloc to fend off "severe economic damage,” Blair wrote in an article published on Saturday by his Institute for Global Change.

Blair, who hailed from the Labour Party, suggested in the article that EU leaders might compromise and be willing to "reform and meet us half way" to stop Britain from leaving the bloc.

Blair also told Sky News that "every day is bringing us fresh evidence" of Brexit's harm to Britain, with economic growth slowing and the value of the pound down sharply since the June 2016 EU membership referendum.

The EU referendum, also known as Brexit, took place on June 23, 2016, in which the majority of Britons voted in favor of leaving the bloc.

Prime Minister Theresa May has claimed that Brexit would only be possible by cutting all ties with the EU and losing access to the single market.

Her Tory government has formally drafted a bill to enact the country’s divorce from the EU.

Opposition Labour Party lawmakers say they believe there could be other alternative ways to Brexit without cutting all ties to the EU and threatened to kill May's proposed Brexit bill in the parliament.

The bill is a key part of the government's plan to exit the EU in 2019.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (R) welcomes British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, on July 13, 2017, in Brussels. (Photo by AFP)

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn met with the chief Brexit negotiator for the EU, Michel Barnier, in the Belgian capital Brussels on Thursday to explore possible ways to preserve partnership with the bloc.

Corbyn criticized May and her ruling Conservative party’s handling of the negotiations and said he would do the job rather “respectfully” and in a friendly fashion.

"In contrast to the Conservatives' megaphone diplomacy, we will conduct relations with our European neighbors respectfully and in the spirit of friendship,” he said.

"Our strong links with our European sister parties gives Labour an advantage in reaching an outcome that works for both sides," the opposition leader added.

May’s government has on many occasions mocked the EU’s demand for a “divorce bill” of around £60 billion.

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