Tony Blair’s think tank urges UK to work toward rejoining EU within a decade

UK's former prime minister Tony Blair’s institute argues the UK should target rejoining a reformed EU within the next decade.

A report published by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) stressed that the United Kingdom should commit to the long-term ambition of rejoining a significantly reformed European Union within the next decade.

Sir Tony Blair urged the government to place this objective at the heart of upcoming long-term national planning, framing it not as a rushed attempt to "reverse" Brexit, but as a modern economic and geopolitical necessity.

The former prime minister has urged Burnham to use his 10-year plan in November to put the country’s membership of the union back on the table, a decade after it voted to leave.

In a paper entitled A Path to Rejoining a Reformed Europe, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) calls for the UK to accept free movement of people and make a financial contribution as the price of entry.

The intervention comes after Burnham declined to rule out promising to rejoin the EU in the next Labour manifesto, though it also threatens to reopen the deep rifts caused by the vote 10 years ago.

In a foreword to the paper, Blair argues: “Britain should signal an intention if the terms are right to enter into a structured formal relationship with Europe and initiate a process of negotiation where everything is on the table but nothing agreed until everything is agreed.”

TBI researchers say in the paper itself: “Over the next decade, Britain should work towards the ambition of rejoining a significantly reformed EU.”

The report advises dropping previous strict political constraints—specifically advising that the government should eventually be willing to accept elements like budget contributions and freedom of movement if the terms are right.

Blair emphasized that any future path back into the bloc depends on the EU itself reforming toward a flexible "Europe of nation-states" capable of acting as a global superpower alongside the US and China.

The TBI pointed to the EU’s exploration of associate membership models (such as frameworks involving Canada) as evidence of a shifting, more adaptable Brussels.