Blair makes his pitch for a second referendum: Remain – or hard Brexit

Tony Blair has spent his lunch attempting to charm the Parliamentary Press Gallery. The former prime minister used his appearance before hacks to lay out his pitch for a second referendum. The ardent Remainer claimed that MPs were likely to come round to the idea of a second Brexit vote in the coming weeks as they would work out that there is no Parliamentary majority for any form of Brexit at present. He said that Theresa May’s deal was the worst of both worlds as it wasn’t properly leaving. As a result, Blair argued that the options on the ballot paper in a second vote should simply be ‘Remain’ and a ‘hard Brexit’ – though given that the EU has said that May’s deal is the only deal, that implies Blair is suggesting no deal. He said that were a second referendum to materialise, May’s deal shouldn’t even be an option:

‘Where it ends is anyone’s guess.