Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said this Saturday that the return of the UK to the European Union, from which it left after a referendum in 2016, is not expected for many more years.
“The question of whether and how the United Kingdom will return to the European Union is a question for the next generation. I think this is the reality,” Tony Blair said in an interview with AFP and the European news agencies Ansa, DPA and Efe. at his Institute for Global Change office in central London.
The 69-year-old former Labor leader was strongly opposed to Brexit, campaigning in Northern Ireland to avert the fallout in a province rocked by three decades of violence before a peace deal was signed in April 1998.
“I think the debate in the UK right now is more about how far we are going to rebuild a strong relationship with Europe. In my opinion, this is what we should do, and I hope the Labor Party thinks so too,” Blair added.
According to the former prime minister, the UK and the EU have many common concerns, such as energy and climate, research, or even defense and security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I think cooperation in terms of technology is very important,” he said. “Because otherwise Europe, of which the UK is a part, will be crushed between two tech giants, which are the US and China, and even a third, India.”
Blair understands that current Labor leader Keir Starmer does not want to reopen the possibility of returning to the EU, an issue that “divides” society, but he also defends that his party should not apologize for being opposed to Brexit. ‘ since harmful effects have been seen.
“The immediate task is to solve the problems of Brexit. The damage is obvious, it was foreseeable and it was predicted. region of cohesion,” he stressed.
On the possibility of Labor winning next year’s elections, Blair is optimistic as he sees in Starmer “a very sensible type and a man who comes across as capable of running the country”, while at the same time acknowledging that Sunak is “recover the rubble” left behind by his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
AH // VM
Lusa/The End
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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