He's A Fine One To Talk!

[Jackdaw33]

Tony Blair wants tougher immigration rules for EU citizens

[Old_Geezer]

Such a pity he was never given the opportunity to introduce some.

[Sqad]

LOL...ease immigration...let them in and hey, they will vote Labour...and they did for a decade.
A smart move by Tony.

Now he has seen the folly of open borders and has changed his opinion.....nothing wrong in that, as he realises as does the majority of Europeans, that the UK has made a "pigs ear" of something that should never have been an issue.
Well done Tony, I say.

[youngmafbog]

I'm dtill laughing.

Bliar is a bas been who should be in jail.

[scooping]

Self-delusional, narcistist. Reminds me of Oswald Mosely who during his exile in France believed he would get the call to rescue Britain.

[ChillDoubt]

Ha ha ha, what an utterly pathetic individual.

The irony fairy has been very busy sprinkling her dust into his eyes. Unfortunately, he's already blinded himself.

Diabolical.

[New Judge]

This is the man who, in 2004 when the main tranche of Eastern European nations joined the EU decreed that there was no need to restrict the rights to work and settlement for people from those new nations. Every other nation bar Ireland and Sweden did so for up to seven years (which was allowed under EU rules). The UK saw no need. The government’s advisors forecast that the influx would be “no more than 13,000 per annum” (which itself is bad enough). In the event they were out by about a factor of 20 and a quarter of a million arrived annually.

It was a pity Mr Blair did not undergo his sacred transformation in 2004 when he was in a position to do something that would benefit the UK (of which he was Prime Minister).

And we’re supposed to listen to this man.

[ToraToraTora]

ha ha Saint Tony of the psuedo Tories? PMSL! next they'll make him middle east peace envoy.......hang on

[Guilbert53]

How does the UK compare to other countries in the EU in terms of people coming here from OTHER EU countries (over the last decade or so)?

We all feel we have been swamped by EU nationals but is that the case?

How do we compare with Germany, France, Spain etc?

[webbo3]

Hes just gutted he cant be President Tony.

[Bigbad]

I think, Guilbert53, that for the most part, the people who leave the UK, are retirees, who move abroad, buy a property outright, don’t need a job, and put money into their chosen country’s economy.

I don’t think too many Brits who go to Europe, expect their chosen country to house, educate, provide heath care, and live off the indigenous people’s taxes.

It is estimated that there are 1 million Brits living throughout the whole of Europe, but 3 million Europeans living in the UK.

[cassa333]

Well said Bigbad.

Ha is trying to do a Cameron. "Please lets work something out that the idiots, oops sorry the voting population, we could stay if only you let us control immigration a bit. You know set quotas for a year, just to keep the populace happy for a short while then we can go back to normal uncontrolled" We could even increase our contributions as a 'sorry we caused you upset'.

[gulliver1]

Watched him on the Andrew Marr show, Blair was a Brilliant Pm . should be in charge of Brexit, he makes Mrs Weak and wobbly, {Con party leader } look even weaker.

[ichkeria]

What Tony Blair is saying, and he's right, is that Brexit will be hugely damaging to the UK. It would make more sense to address the genuine concerns of many who voted for it, without actually going ahead with it. Sadly no politician who aspires to be in a governing party is brave enough to say this out loud.

[Samuraisan]

I don't know about France etc. but in Spain benefits have to be worked for. To get unemployment benefits you have to contribute first, and depending on long you have, to how long you get, with a maximum of 2 years. There are other benefits for destitute people, but not as easy as all that to get. Council housing is few and far between, virtually unheard of, and although there is an excellent NHS, one contributes through ones salary directly. So, maybe that is why people head for the UK. We do have East Europeans here, but they all seem to be working, and contributing.

[ichkeria]

In the UK you also contribute to the NHS directly through salary.
How else do you think it's funded?

[New Judge]

“It would make more sense to address the genuine concerns of many who voted for it, without actually going ahead with it.”

Fine and dandy. That nice Mr Cameron tried that. He asked for next to nothing and came away with slightly less. The principle concern of many Leave voters (though not mine) is immigration. You cannot address those concerns whilst an EU member. It is simply impossible. My principle concern is the nation’s sovereignty, the supremacy of its Parliament to make, amend and rescind laws and the position of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of disputes. The EU Commission does that for the vast majority of UK legislation (and the proportion is ever growing) and it is backed up by the ECJ which holds supremacy over the UK’s Supreme Court. You cannot alter that either whilst remaining an EU member.

[New Judge]

“In the UK you also contribute to the NHS directly through salary.”

You certainly do – if you happen to be working and are a “net contributor”. Many migrants doing low-paid work are not.

As an aside we seem to be revisiting the referendum debate here.

[Zacs-Master]

It was only a few weeks ago Tony was going to,return to front line politics wasn't it?

[New Judge]

And I've just had a glimpse at his interview and the transcript.

It is quite clear that the only reason for his dramatic volte-face on immigration is that he believes that with a few "adjustments" immigration will cease to be the driver behind many voters' desire to leave the EU. "The ex-PM said the UK could stay in the EU after all with new curbs in place." So what are these "curbs":

"Mr Blair's proposals are to "tighten" existing free movement rules, including on benefit entitlement, and seek to negotiate an "emergency brake" on EU migration in certain sectors."

I'm not sure how you can "tighten" a rule which says anybody is allowed to live and work anywhere, especially when it is a defining principle of the EU. Any "emergency brake in certain sectors" will be (very) temporary and swiftly and stealthily struck out by the Euromaniacs.

So he hasn't really seen much light at all.

In 2016 250,000 new arrivals from the EU came to the UK. This was tempered only slightly by a larger than usual number leaving. None of these people had to give any reason for wanting to settle here nor did they have to have a job, a home or medical insurance. This is lunacy on a truly epic scale which will take more than a little tweaking round the edges as suggested by Mr Blair to confront and cure.

[ichkeria]

If there are migrants doing low paid work that is the fault of their employers and that would also hold if they were uk nationals.
As for the possible future effects of Brexit, Michael Fallon's face (and yes I know he was a Remain supporter) said it all. It said 'I am holding a *** stick'