𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Sir Tony Blair has demanded that Andy Burnham drag Britain back into the EU within the next decade. The former prime minister used a report from his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute, to call for sweeping reforms to the bloc before the UK heads back in.

An ardent Remainer, Sir Tony described the 2016 referendum that freed the country from Brussels as a “gamble”. But fury erupted across Westminster when the report landed just hours after Andy Burnham refused to rule out reversing Brexit in Labour’s next manifesto. Tory MP Mike Wood told the Daily Express: “Andy Burnham has left the door open to rejoining the EU and now Tony Blair is piling the pressure on him to drag us back into the bloc.

“Labour should stop trying to turn back the clock and instead focus on setting out serious proposals for the future.

“The Conservatives are the only party with a plan to fix our broken economy and welfare system, fund our defence and get Britain working again.”

A Reform UK spokesman told the Daily Express: “Tony Blair is like one of those Japanese soldiers still fighting years after World War 2 was lost.

“Britain voted to leave the European Union, and we should get on with making Brexit work rather than endlessly discussing how to reverse it. As for Brussels reforming, it never has and never will.”

Mr Burnham has previously called for Britain to rejoin the EU “in my lifetime” after 17.4million people voted to leave in 2016.

The Daily Express has launched its Give Us A Proper Brexit campaign, demanding that Westminster respect the result.

In his foreword to the dossier, Sir Tony calls for a “new approach” with the EU.

He writes: “We should be clear that we want back into a formal relationship with the EU. But it must be a Europe on a credible path to reform, a Europe of nation states, a Europe capable of being a genuine global power.”

The paper calls for a series of changes within the EU itself, including ending freedom of movement.

Sir Tony has long been a pro-European and was mooted as a potential president of the European Council back in 2009, two years after leaving Downing Street.

Downing Street has been approached for comment.