Tony Blair's influence and opinion on Brexit

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has hinted that EU leaders would be prepared to give Britain back full control of its borders if it remains inside the single market. Mr Blair who did not mention any names spoke of the feeling of EU leaders that the UK would be welcome to control immigration if it remained inside the trading blocs single market area.

The former Prime minister has kept close ties with many leaders inside the union. He believes that other leaders understand the impact of the UK leaving totally. The UK is one of the world's leading economies and would no doubt be a loss to the zone. Mr Blair is aiming to head the UK in a softer direction and insists that the full wish list of tighter immigration controls and access to the single market are achievable. This is in direct confrontation to current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's assessment that he would pull the UK out of the market, much the same as his opponent, the current Prime Minister Theresa May.

Mr Blair insisted that the election of France's new president Emmanuel Macron had shown a change of step in the EU area and a fresh impetus on maintaining the Union. Mr Blair has called on Mr Corbyn to change tactic on Brexit. So have many of his colleagues. So far there has been little sign of change from the current leader of the opposition. He insisted that there was significant political will for Britain to remain in a reformed relationship the union.

Mr Blair is a strong supporter of Europe, much as he was in his time as the UK's Prime Minister. His significant access to other European leaders means he is likely to be talking with authority on the subject. He has also previously called on the government to call a second referendum on the subject as he believes that much of the public has since changed its position on the subject. Though calls for a second referendum have been ignored. Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron had made the pledge for a second referendum on Brexit a key part of his manifesto. His calls were also ignored as the government has dedicated itself to taking the UK out of the Union entirely.

The future of Brexit is still very much uncertain. There is significant pressure on the government from all directions. The close nature of the referendum result showed how closely public opinion was divided. This appears unchanged. Recent polls show that although the public now would support the UK remaining in the EU, it is by no means certain as the figures remain very closely split. All of this may result in the government indeed putting the final deal to the public. The government have so far insisted that this will not be the case, but the political world is very uncertain and a second referendum on the final deal would at least provide a certain result.