Tony Blair has branded the Tory plan to deliver Brexit a âfantasyâ and said he would not trust Boris Johnson with a blank cheque.
The former prime minister will deliver a speech on Monday and is expected to describe the state of British politics as âutterly dysfunctionalâ.
Mr Blair, speaking at a Reuters Newsmaker event, will say that voters should look at this election seat by seat, describing the General Election as â650 mini electionsâ.
He is expected to say: âThe Conservative Party say vote Tory and Brexit will be done; it will be over.
âThey even add â do it and we can get back to dealing with the important issues.
âThe cheek is quite breath-taking. So, having visited this debacle upon us, which has distracted us from those big issues for over three years, they now use the distraction as a reason for doing Brexit, not abandoning it.
âBut it appeals. It is, however, a fantasy. Brexit isnât over on 12 December, nor even on 31 January next year. We immediately begin the new phase of Brexit negotiation.â
He is expected to add: âThe Conservatives calculate that they can force people to elect them, despite worry over Brexit, because Jeremy Corbyn is the alternative.
âThe Labour Party leadership calculate they can combine traditional Labour support around issues like the NHS, with Remain voters who hate Brexit, despite fear about the Labour Leader.
âIn other words, both parties want to win on the basis that whatever your dislike of what theyâre offering, the alternative is worse.â
Brexit is a distraction
Mr Blair will say: âYet though Brexit is a distraction, it is also the vital determinant of the nationâs future.
âIt remains the single most important decision since 1945. Because of its effect on the economy, it impacts every one of the non-Brexit promises the parties are making.
âDoing it matters. How it is done matters. And exhaustion is not the frame of mind in which to do it.
âNo-deal Brexit is not off the table. It is slap bang in the middle of it.
âWhen people hear the phrase no deal, they often think we just mean failure to agree; which in Brexiteer language means we havenât surrendered.
Throwing our economy off a cliff
âWhat it really means is throwing our economy off a cliff and hoping it finds a parachute on the way down.
âIt is a risk no responsible leader would take. Yet we may be about to empower a leader â Boris Johnson â to take such a risk.â
On Labour, he will say: âThe Labour Party manifesto is heralded by its leadership as the most radical ever.
âThis is true. It promises a revolution; and if implemented it would indeed amount to oneâŠThe problem with revolutions is never how they begin but how they end.â
Mr Blair is expected to say: âThe polls predict a Conservative victory and put the chances of an outright Labour victory as negligible. But I wouldnât trust Boris Johnson with a blank cheque.â