Former PM Blair Says UK is ‘a Mess’ Ahead of Election

In the first televised debate of the election campaign last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the country’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn sparred over Brexit, the NHS, the economy, trust in politics, Jeffrey Epstein and the monarchy.

Speaking at a newsmaker event at Reuters on Monday, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed that the country is "a mess" ahead of the 12 December general election and that people want this mess to end. 

“We're a mess. The buoyancy of the world economy has kept us going up to now, but should that falter, we will be in deep trouble,” he claimed.

He insisted that neither Labour Party nor the Conservatives deserved to win the forthcoming election, accusing both parties of imposing  fantasies on voters ahead of the event. 

Blair specifically warned of repercussions from “revolutions” like the one that was pledged in current Labour Party’s election manifesto

"The problem with revolutions is that they always end badly," Blair pointed out.

He also predicted that if the polls are right, the elections will see a Conservative majority, putting the chances of Labour winning a majority as “negligible.”

Johnson, Corbyn Go Head-To-Head In First General Election Debate

His speech comes a few days after the first face-off between Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was hosted by ITV, an event which saw the two sparring over Brexit, the NHS, the economy, trust in politics, Jeffrey Epstein and the monarchy

Corbyn outlined an expansive list of policies, including "an increase in wages, living wage, an end to zero hours contracts" and an investment strategy in manufacturing jobs funded by increases in corporate tax.

Johnson, in turn, accused the Labour leader of wanting to "overthrow capitalism" and threatened that Labour would require a "money forest" to pay for their pledges before promising to shelve his plan to cut corporate tax.

On Brexit, Corbyn noted that Labour would negotiate a final say with a "credible leave option" against the option to remain and would implement whatever is decided.

He attacked claims that the deal proposed by Johnson's government would get Brexit done, pointing out instead that it would be the beginning of "a trade deal with the US that would take seven years to negotiate".

During the debate, Johnson repeatedly claimed to have an "oven-ready deal" which "delivers everything we wanted from Brexit."

He appealed to his "oven-ready" deal, adding that, once delivered, a Tory majority government would end the "deadlocked parliament" and "unleash the potential of this entire country."

Late last month, the EU formally agreed to extend Britain’s exit process until 31 January 2020, in a move that was followed by the UK Parliament’s House of Commons voting to hold the country’s snap general election on 12 December.