Tony Blair has said Brexit âcould be stoppedâ if the British people decide the cost is not worth it.
In a New Statesman interview marking his return to politics, the former Prime Minister said it was âpossibleâ voters would decide to reverse their decision to leave the EU, but that suggesting it was âcondemned as treasonâ.
âIt can be stopped, if the British people decide that having seen what it means, the pain-gain analysis doesnât stack upâ, he said.
âWhen I say, âWell, letâs just keep our options openâ, itâs condemned as treason. Why wouldnât you keep your options open?â
Describing Brexit as âlike agreeing to a house swap without having seen the other houseâ, Blair said voters would come to view subsequent economic pain âin a practical way, not an ideological wayâ.
âEither you get maximum access to the single market, in which case youâll end up accepting a significant number of the rules on immigration, on payment into the budget, on the European courtâs jurisdiction. People may then say, âWell, hang on, why are we leaving then?â
âOr alternatively, youâll be out of the single market and the economic pain may be very great because, beyond doubt, if you do that youâll have years, maybe a decade, of economic restructuringâ, he said.
In the interview the former Labour Prime Minster said he wanted to âcreate spaceâ to debate âwhere modern western democracies goâ, but would not return as an MP as âthere are elements of the media who would literally move to destroy modeâ.
Blair also denied calling Theresa May a âlightweightâ and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn âa nutterâ, as was alleged in a Sunday Times article.
Of May, he said âI would not be rude and disrespectful in that way... No, I think sheâs a very solid, sensible person but sheâs delivering Brexit. And she has to deliver it. Otherwise she will lose the support of that very strong right-wing media.â
Elsewhere, Blair said Donald Trumpâs win in the US was âa lot to do with culture and identity, and peopleâs feelings that the world is changing rapidly around them.â
He also said that the Democrats had got it wrong on the threat from radical Islam, because they wished to avoid seeming to stigmatise all Muslims.
âI donât personally agree with that. I think that youâre perfectly able to distinguish between Islamists and Muslims. But there is a threat that is based on the perversion of religion, and you should acknowledge it as such in my view.
âWhereas the Republicans had a whole section that was all about that. Again, if youâre looking at America and how they feel about things, what they feel is that the liberal left is unwilling to have a discussion about these thingsâ, he said.
Asked about Blairâs remarks on Brexit, the Prime Ministerâs official spokeswoman said:
âWe are leaving the European Union, thatâs the decision of the British people. Sheâs focused on being a Prime Minister that gets on and delivers that decision.â