Boris Johnson would be “smart” to hold a referendum on a no-deal Brexit rather than hold a general election he could lose, Tony Blair has declared.
The former prime minister said that a snap election this autumn runs the real risk of another hung parliament that would fail to break the impasse over the issue.
But a new referendum - with no-deal versus staying in the EU on the ballot paper - would be a better way for Johnson to get his way, Blair said.
Speaking at the launch of the new King’s College London International School for Government, the ex-PM praised Jeremy Corbyn for not falling into the Tory “trap” of holding polling day before the October 31 Brexit deadline.
However he warned that even a November election would be a bad idea because it would muddy the issue of Brexit with other policies.
“If it’s no-deal that the government is agitating for, go back and put that and say ‘do you want it or do you want to stay?’” Blair said.
“It’s Boris Johnson’s way out. If Boris Johnson was smart he would say ‘OK I’m not blocked in parliament. I’m going to go back to the people and we are going to go back on this specific issue’.
“What’s his biggest risk in a general election? His biggest risk is actually mixing it up [with other issues]. He’s doing it because he thinks he can get no-deal as a result of it but it’s also a risk because he could end up with a hung parliament.”
Blair added: “What Boris Johnson thinks is: if I fight a Brexit general election, I can say to people: ‘Look it’s no deal or you get Jeremy Corbyn.’
“You could end up with the bizarre situation where, let’s just suppose the Conservatives manage to win a majority with 35% to 40% of the vote, they will claim a mandate for no-deal.
“When, if you add the votes for all the parties opposed to no-deal together, they will come to more than 50% of the vote, it is a completely undemocratic way of deciding it.”
MPs voted this week for legislation forcing Johnson to seek an extension to the UK’s membership of the EU until after October 31.
Labour’s official position is to hold a referendum with a ‘credible’ Brexit option and a Remain option on any ballot paper, with many frontbenchers saying they should then campaign to stay in the EU.
Asked about Labour’s current policy, Blair said it was “a work in progress”. “The majority of the Labour party is in favour of staying,” he said.
“To be fair to the leadership, in these last weeks they have cooperated with people across party lines, in order to block an election which I think would be a mistake.”
He suggested that the fresh speculation about a November snap election was itself dangerous, as the referendum remained the priority.
“It is wrong as a matter of principle to mix the general election up with a specific Brexit question, which should be put to people back in a referendum, if you want the people to break the deadlock. And that is a position that is right in November as well as right in October.”