Tony Blair on "What do to about Brexit?"

Here is something Tony Blair said on Fareed Zakaria's TV show last week-end:

ZAKARIA: What do do about Brexit?

BLAIR: Well, I would still like to see it changed. I mean, I think that the truth is there is no answer to the fundamental dilemma. So in this whole Brexit negotiation, the government's got a choice, and it keeps kicking the can down the road because it can't really make this choice and because the Cabinet and the government are on different sides of the argument.

And the basic choice is this, if you want to stay close to Europe -- because half of our trade is with Europe, at least the commercial relationships that really matter to the U.K. and to jobs -- then Europe's going to say "You can't stay close to us unless you abide by the rules," OK?

But then, if you abide by the rules, people will say, "Well, what's the point of leaving?"

Alternatively, you say, "I want to free myself of all those rules, in which case you had a clean break from Europe, in which case you're going to do significant short-term and medium-term damage economically as you adjust, in which case the country's going to ask, "What's the price?"

So that dilemma, "What's the point or what's the price?" -- at some point in the next weeks, months, maybe, the government is going to have to decide which is right. And once they come down on one side or the other, that's when I think they're going to hit a very difficult patch in Parliament. The government's lost its majority. I don't think the Labor Party will vote for whatever government proposition they bring forward. And I think there are significant numbers of conservative MPs who will say to their own constituents, "Look, I can't support this; if you, the people, want to vote for it, let's put it back to you in order that you who made the original referendum decision should take a final vote on the outcome."

This is pretty close to my view on Brexit. At some point, the UK government will have to come up with a specific plan for Brexit. When that happens, the question moves from an abstract one to a concrete and specific one, and will be subject to scrutiny and criticism. I think it's going to be very hard for this government to come up with a plan that generates the necessary support.