With Bill Clinton and Tony Blair both supporting the UK to remain in Europe -
it will probably help a few fence sitters vote for a Brexit
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair join forces in campaign against Brexit
- SAM COATES
- THE TIMES
- MAY 4, 2016 12:00AM
Bill Clinton campaigns for wife Hillary’s presidential bid in Kokomo, Indiana.
Two of the most controversial figures in recent political history are plotting a reunion. Bill Clinton is understood to be preparing to return to Britain to campaign with Tony Blair to urge voters to stay in the European Union.
The former US president will fly in to reinforce the message delivered by President Barack Obama two weeks ago. The itinerary cannot be agreed until Mr Clinton’s wife, Hillary, knows for certain that she has secured the Democratic nomination for the presidential election in November. One source said, however: “We expect this will happen.”
There is no question where the Clintons stand on Britain’s EU membership. “Hillary Clinton believes that trans-Atlantic co-operation is essential, and that co-operation is strongest when Europe is united,” Jake Sullivan, her senior policy adviser, told a newspaper. “She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU.”
The role of arranging and securing the appearance has been handed to Mr Blair amid suspicions that some senior figures in the Britain Stronger in Europe group do not want to give the former prime minister a big role.
He is understood also to be preparing to make his own solo interventions.
Downing Street was delighted with Mr Obama’s plea last month for Britain to remain in the EU, but this failed to translate into any movement in the polls. A YouGov poll last week put the Leave campaign two points ahead. This comes despite Mr Obama being judged more popular than any British politician in the EU debate, trusted by 35 per cent of voters.
Mr Clinton is significantly less popular, according to YouGov. The poll suggested he was trusted by 14 per cent of British voters on the EU and distrusted by 56 per cent, making him less influential than Prime Minister David Cameron, who is trusted by 20 per cent and UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, trusted by 23 per cent.
Mr Clinton and Mr Blair overlapped in office for almost four years until January 2001. They worked together during the Kosovo war, the Northern Ireland peace process and in the search for a “third way” for centre-left political parties around the world.
Mr Clinton’s most memorable visit to Britain was in 2002, when he supported Mr Blair at the Labour conference. A late-night quest for a snack led Mr Clinton to pop out with his film star friend Kevin Spacey, and the two ended up in a McDonald’s.
Mr Blair remained close to the Clintons despite the former prime minister’s support for the Iraq invasion led by president George W. Bush in 2003. Mrs Clinton voted in the Senate for the war, but then criticised it.
Emails released in January by the US State Department showed Mr Blair keeping Mrs Clinton informed about visits to Israel as part of his later role as Middle East envoy.
According to the
Washington Examiner, the emails indicated Mrs Clinton was encouraged to lobby foreign leaders to back Mr Blair when he was angling to be the president of the European Council, a post he did not secure.
The Times
