Tony Blair has urged voters to consider backing any candidate who promises to have an open mind on the terms of the final #brexit deal in June’s General Election – even if they are Conservative or Liberal Democrat.

In an interview on  BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend, the former Labour prime minister said the public should put party allegiances aside to prevent what he called a “steamroller election” on the most “dramatic issue of our time”. Pointing to the latest polls which show a landslide Conservative majority, Blair says he wants people to maximise the number of MPs willing to vote against hard #brexit when Theresa May brings a deal back to the House of Commons.

“The absolutely central question at this general election is less who is the prime minister on 9 June, and more what is the nature of the mandate, and in particular – because otherwise frankly this is a steamroller election – is it possible that we can return as many members of parliament as possible to parliament that are going to keep an open mind on this Brexit negotiation until we see the final terms.”

He criticised Theresa May for taking single market membership off the table before negotiations had even begun, saying it was “the single best option for Britain” and weakened her hand to remove it.

 

Blair said he is so concerned he would consider returning to frontline politics, saying: “I look at the British political scene at the moment and I actually almost feel motivated to go right back into it. We’re just allowing ourselves to be hijacked by what is actually a small group of people with a very strong ideology.”