Originally Posted by
roger_ramjet
Well he was speaking to the pro Europe "Open Britain" group in the City and so he was to a large extent preaching to the converted: leastwise I dont suppose his speech changed anyone's mind who was there!
I have mixed feelings on this sort of thing. is it a positive contribution to the process or is it just another political has been trying to revive his public image (and indeed revenue stream) by being vaguely controvsial? if it is simply a has been profiteering then I think it is not useful, whether you agree with what he said or not. Brexits is not an appropriate forum for trying to get back into the limelight. its a bit like Ratty re-emerging from his dank lair and saying something contrary just so we dont forget he is still around!
We may or may not be heading lemming like over the cliff: who knows, but we (as in the majority of those who bothered to vote, and not including me) decided to head for Dover and now parliament has ratified the decision - you might say under duress - so what use would another vote be? You might say the same thing after every vote that has ever taken place - oooh lets do it again until we get the answer I want. If the Miss World competition had not fallen foul of political rectitude, then would we keep calling for a revote if our favoured girl did not win?
If we did go down the revote / check if you still want it vote after agreeing exit terms, how is that going to work? A change of heart would mean a colossal waste of time and money had occurred. The climb down would be nothing short of a national humiliation. Who is to say that the EU would even let us back in if we "changed our collective minds" after having negotiated an exit. If they did, how onerous would those remain/come back terms be, what might become of our special rebate? Would the revised "remain terms" then need another ratification vote? it could go on for ever.
I voted remain but with a divided mind. When we voted out I have accepted that view and embrace it, for good or evil. We cannot go on second guessing ourselves and prevaricating or we will still be in this no mans land ten years later with neither the espoused benefits of leaving nor those of staying actually being realised.
So in conclusion - I think Blair's tirade was not useful or constructive. he just wanted to get his face back in the press.