Tony Blair, who was one of the most prominent campaigners for a second referendum on EU membership, has said he would have backed Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels in the Commons. The former prime minister revealed he would have supported the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who whipped his MPs to vote in favour of the prime minister’s agreement with the EU last week before the end of the transition period. Three Labour junior frontbenchers resigned after defying Starmer and refusing to vote for the agreement. One Labour MP went further and voted against the deal, which sailed through the parliamentary approval process on 30 December. Asked if he would have voted for the deal in the Commons, Blair – among the most high-profile members of the remain camp during the 2016 Brexit referendum – told Times Radio on Sunday: “I would have backed the leader on this.

Source: The Guardian January 03, 2021 14:26 UTC