Concerned with Brexit negotiations, Tony Blair decides to return to UK politics

Concerned with the Brexit vote, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that he plans to take an active role in politics. Two decades after his landslide victory against John Major to take on the role of PM in 1997, Blair has returned to the political limelight and expressed doubts over the departure deal that current Prime Minister Teresa May's government is working on.

"This Brexit thing has given me a direct motivation to get more involved in the politics. You need to get your hands dirty and I will," he told the Mirror on 28 April.

"It is the dominant issue in British politics. As someone who believed that Britain should play a strong role in Europe, this is obviously a matter of great sadness," he said.

"There is a mood in Britain at the moment of 'Just get on with it', even among some people who voted Remain. But I still think there is a long way to go in this debate because it is not so simple as just getting on with it.

The former prime minister added that that when people would see the details, they would hesitate of the exit negotiations.

The 63-year-old, who currently works full-time with a charitable organisation, said that while he was not interested in returning to "front-line politics", he wanted to be able to play an active part in shaping policy and debate.

"I know the moment I stick my head out the door I'll get a bucket of wotsit poured all over me, but I really do feel passionate about this," he told the Daily Mirror.

Despite voicing strong support for his Labour party, Blair has no plans to support Jeremy Corbyn in the upcoming general election on 8 June and criticised the "hard-left" stance the party had adopted. "Anything that looks like a form of conservatism of the left is never going to work, because the progressive forces only win when they understand the future and show how they can make it work for people," he said according to The New York Times.

He voiced similar criticism of center-left parties in continental Europe. Expressing support for France's Emmanuel Macron, Blair said that Labour needed to take a leaf from the En Marche! movement.

"The broad lesson is the centre ground is still strong and if you provide people with a progressive centre-ground alternative they'll vote for it," he told the Observer.