Tony Blair’s turned into Mr Forgetful… he’s forgotten his promises, disgust of Brits at his spin and even the meaning of democracy
Former Labour leader rapped by man he defeated over his selective memory for trying to halt Brexit
TONY Blair was last night branded “Mr Forgetful” over his shameless bid to stop Britain leaving the EU.
The ex-PM was urged to pause and think about his record before attempting to overturn the will of the people.
Former Tory minister Iain Duncan Smith accused him of playing a key role in pushing the nation towards Brexit.
He said Mr Blair’s failure to stop the transfer of power to Brussels was partly to blame for the decision to leave.
And he bluntly told him it was time he made an exit of his own.
Mr Duncan Smith declared: “Tony Blair’s great gift to politics is to remember only the things that suit him.
“He seems to have forgotten that almost a decade ago he promised us a referendum over plans for a written EU constitution — and failed to deliver.
“This is the guy who told us he was in favour of keeping the Pound then tried his utmost to take us into the euro.
“Now it seems he’s forgotten the meaning of democracy. Let me remind him. It means everyone gets a vote and the side which gets most votes wins.”
In their first major clash since he was ousted as Tory leader in 2003, he accused his old sparring partner of running a “co-ordinated plot” to overturn the June 23 result.
He said it was no accident Blair had broken cover at the same time as another Europhile former PM, and former foe, John Major.
Related Stories
Mr Duncan Smith, who rebelled against Mr Major signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, called his latest intervention “unbelievably ridiculous”.
He said: “This is a man who was happy to govern with 42 per cent of the electorate behind him, yet when 52 per cent go out and vote to leave the EU, he calls it a tyranny of the majority. Like Tony Blair, he seems to have forgotten the meaning of democracy.
“He pretends not to have heard David Cameron say during the referendum campaign that Leave means Leave.
"He told us there would be no entry to the single market, no second referendum. But he’s bitter and decided to work flat out to force the people to vote again.”
Mr Duncan Smith insists the Blair-Major campaign could thwart the will of the people. “They won’t stop,” he raged. “They will try everything.
“The fact is that the EU has entered the soul of the political elite in Britain. It has made it very easy for them to deny the will of the people — and many of us are beginning to get fed up.
“What he is saying is: ‘I know better than you. You’re not smart enough. You don’t know enough and therefore you should leave all of this to us’.
“It’s ridiculous. The public have made their decision. We don’t need to be asked twice. We want the Government to get on and deliver. We already know the EU way of doing things.
“If a country votes the wrong way in a referendum, they make them vote again and again until they get it right.
“It happened in Denmark after they voted against the Maastricht Treaty and were made to vote again.”
Mr Blair re-appeared on the political stage last week to claim Britain’s EU departure could be halted.
He suggested offering the public a “soft” Brexit will make them see there is “no point” in leaving.
But his old Commons sparring partner hit back: “Tony, you’ve had your day. Your time is over.”
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, Mr Duncan Smith accused Blair of displaying an “unbelievable level of arrogance”.
He added: “The only thing I can say in his favour is that, unlike John Major, Nick Clegg and some other Remainers, he is being honest by admitting he does not respect the referendum result.
“If he had any sense, he would show some dignity and not try to come back to bully the British people something they don’t want.
"His problem has always been he seems to have a very selective memory. He is the Mr Forgetful of British politics.
“He talked about bringing honesty and an end to corruption in politics, then went off and earned millions working for dodgy dictators all over the world.
“This is the guy who’s forgotten the shame of David Kelly who was hounded to his death in the run-up to the Iraq war.
“He seems to have forgotten the disgust the public had over the spinning that took place when he was Prime Minister.
"And the time when an aide said on the day of the 9/11 terror attacks that it was a good day to bury bad news.
“He doesn’t remember that it was the Labour Party that wanted him out. And that they haven’t asked for him back.
“He thinks he can emerge back here and wipe the slate clean but that’s not going to happen.
"Unfortunately for him, the public have a much better memory than that.
“And thankfully Theresa May is adamant she is not going to tolerate any of his blatant spoiling tactics.”
