Tony Blair has faced backlash after attempting to interpret the European election results as a victory for Remain, despite the Brexit Party securing a decisive win. The former Labour prime minister argued that pro-EU parties collectively garnered a larger share of the vote than the Brexit Party and UKIP combined, but his comments drew sharp criticism from Brexiteers who accused him of ignoring the Conservative Party's pro-Brexit stance.
Speaking on Sky News, Blair said: 'You can argue about the Brexit Party coming number one – but then if you stack up the votes of the pro-remain parties it's a bigger percentage than the Brexit Party and UKIP. So what these results tell you is that this country is profoundly divided.' His remarks echoed those of his former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who had similarly argued that combining anti-Brexit votes indicated public opposition to leaving the EU.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage dismissed the claims as 'absolute tosh', insisting that the Conservative Party's 9.1 per cent share should be counted with the Leave vote. 'Add up the Brexit vote, add up the Ukip vote... add the Conservative vote, who are still a party that says we are going to leave, and you will find that Leave beat Remain,' he told Good Morning Britain. 'In fact what you will find is that overall the country is 52-48 in favour of leaving.'
The Brexit Party topped the polls in every region except London, winning 31.6 per cent of the vote, while the Liberal Democrats came second with 20.3 per cent. Labour secured 14.1 per cent, the Greens 12.1 per cent, and the Conservatives a dismal 9.1 per cent, placing fifth. Tory Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen accused Blair of 'complete denial of the facts'.
This is not the first time Blair's interpretation of facts has been questioned. The 2016 Chilcot report into the Iraq War strongly criticised his decision to lead the country into conflict in 2003 based on 'flawed' intelligence, though it stopped short of accusing him of deliberate dishonesty. Families of fallen soldiers had previously branded him a 'liar' and a 'murderer' during his 2010 evidence to the inquiry.
