Ex-Labour PM Tony Blair has warned
that David Cameron's pledge to hold a referendum on Britain's EU
membership would cause economic "chaos".
Mr Blair said Mr Cameron
had put "exit on the agenda" by pledging a vote and that leaving would
threaten the UK's position as a "great global nation".But Mr Cameron said his predecessor was "ignoring the will of the people".
Mr Blair, who was in his old Sedgefield constituency, also gave current Labour leader Ed Miliband his "100%" support.
Mr Blair won general elections as Labour leader in 1997, 2001 and 2005, and stood down as prime minister in 2007.
But speaking in his former constituency of Sedgefield in County Durham, Mr Blair said a referendum would be a "huge distraction" and the prospect of possible exit would leave a "pall of unpredictability hanging over the British economy".
"And the oddest thing of all about having this referendum? The PM doesn't really believe we should leave Europe; not even the Europe as it is today," he said.
"This was a concession to party, a manoeuvre to access some of the UKIP vote, a sop to the rampant anti-Europe feeling of parts of the media.
"This issue, touching as it does the country's future, is too important to be traded like this."
'No credibility'
Mr Blair said leaving the EU would leave Britain "diminished in the world" and take the country "out of the leadership game" globally.Citing the wrangling over Scottish devolution and the growth of the SNP since September's referendum on Scottish independence, Mr Blair said it was foolish to believe an EU referendum would settle the issue once and for all.
Mr Blair, who has appeared to question some of Mr Miliband's positioning in the past year, said he "respected" the Labour leader for putting the "interests of the country first" and opposing a referendum on Conservative terms.
"He showed on this, as he did on other issues, that he is his own man with his own convictions and the determination to follow them even when they go against the tide."
No comments:
Post a Comment