British ex-PM Blair joins fight to keep Britain in EU

Former British prime minister Tony Blair said Friday that the British people have a right to change their mind about leaving the European Union.

"Our mission is to persuade them to do so," Blair told a pro-stay organization in his first major speech on the topic.

His call flies in the face of British Prime Minister Theresa May's determination to carry out the will of the people in last June's referendum by taking Britain out of the EU. She is set to trigger the exit process by the end of March.

Addressing a meeting of the pro-European campaign group Open Britain, Blair said he recognized the British people voted to leave Europe, and he agreed the will of the people should prevail.

"But the people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so," he said.

"The road we're going down is not simply hard Brexit. It is Brexit at any cost. Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what this cost is, to show how the decision was based on imperfect knowledge which will now become informed knowledge," Blair added.

Questioned at the meeting on whether he thought there should be a second referendum in Britain, Blair responded: "All I'm saying is that if a significant part of that 52 percent (who voted leave) show real change of mind, however you measure it, we should have the opportunity to reconsider this decision."

"Whether you do it through another referendum or another method -- that's a second order question. But this issue is the single most important decision this country has taken since World War II and debate can't now be shut down about it," Blair said.

His intervention was quickly condemned by leading leave supporters, including former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage and Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative MP. But former leader of the minority Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg said he agreed with what Blair had said.

Referring to Theresa May and Philip Hammond, Blair said: "Nine months ago both she and the chancellor were telling us that leaving would be bad for the country, its economy, its security and its place in the world. Today it is apparently a 'once in a generation opportunity' for greatness."

Blair added: "Britain can and would survive out of the EU. This is a great country, with resilient and creative people. No one is going to write us off, nor should they.

"But making the best of a bad job doesn't alter the fact that it isn't smart to put yourself in that position unless you have to," he added. Endit