Tony Blair 'does NOT trust' the British public slams David Cameron amid EU referendum fury

DAVID Cameron has blasted Tony Blair for not trusting the British public, after the former Labour prime minister sparked fury by warning voters against an in/out EU referendum.

Tony BlairGETTY

Tony Blair will tell voters Britain should stay in the EU

The former Labour leader hit the election campaign trail at his former constituency of Sedgefield, County Durham today, where he delivered a doom-laden prediction of economic chaos should Britain release itself from Brussels.

Mr Blair said he did not believe Mr Cameron even wanted to quit the EU, suggesting the Prime Minister had offered a renegotiation of Britain's EU membership, followed by a public vote in 2017, as part of "a manoeuvre to access some of the Ukip vote".

Mr Blair said: "I believe passionately that leaving Europe would leave Britain diminished in the world, do significant damage to our economy and, less obviously but just as important to our future, would go against the very qualities that mark us out still as a great global nation."

He added: "The Tory campaign talks of chaos should Labour win. Think of the chaos produced by the possibility, never mind the reality, of Britain quitting Europe.

"Jobs that are secure suddenly insecure; investment decisions postponed or cancelled; a pall of unpredictability hanging over the British economy.

"And for what? To satisfy the insistent Euro-phobia of a group who will never be satisfied."

tony blair at sedgefieldGETTY

Mr Blair speaking today at Sedgefield

However, speaking today in Belfast during a whirlwind tour of the four nations of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister called Mr Blair "wrong" and said: "I want changes in Europe but then, unlike Tony Blair, I will trust the people in an in-out referendum.

"You cannot ignore the will of the people as Tony Blair thinks we should - and it is not just him, it is Ed Miliband."

Mr Blair said he decided to speak out because of his concern at the damage EU withdrawal could cause Britain's standing in the world.

The PM doesn't really believe we should leave Europe

Tony Blair

He also praised current Labour leader Mr Miliband for ignoring pressure to match Mr Cameron's promise of an EU referendum.

He added: "I think [Mr Cameron] has missed the point as I would ask him why does he want to put at risk Britain’s membership of Europe at this moment.

"It’s my view that it’s extraordinary that he should want such a referendum unless he believes it’s right for Britain to go."

In what was his first time campaigning for Labour this election, Mr Blair also used his speech to denounce the "mean-spiritedness" of the nationalism espoused by Ukip.

He said: "We know what this movement to wrench us out of Europe is based on. You can see it whenever [Nigel] Farage swiftly moves the debate to immigrants.

"National pride is a great thing. Nationalism, as a political cause in the hands of parties like Ukip, is almost always ugly and, despite being wrapped in the garb of high-sounding phrases, can never disguise its essentially mean spirit."

But Mr Farage said Ukip represented "nation-ism", which he described as the right for people to live in nation states rather than a federal superstate.

During a campaign visit to Cannock, Staffordshire, Ukip leader Nigel Farage applauded Mr Blair for discussing the EU referendum, adding: "I'm very pleased he talked about it and very interested about his comment about David Cameron - that he's been forced into promising a referendum he doesn't really believe in."

Despite winning three landslide general elections, Mr Blair remains a controversial figure within the Labour party.

Shortly after becoming leader in 1994, he alienated many people on the left of his party by abolishing the historic Clause Four commitment to nationalising industry.

And in 2003, his support of the US-led invasion of Iraq caused further divisions in Labour.

Dundee East's Labour candidate Lesley Brennan, Northampton North PPC Sally Keeble and Gloucester's Sophy Gardner have all refused campaign donations from Mr Blair so far this election.

Mr Blair's claims were blasted by anti-Brussels group Business for Britain's chief executive Matthew Elliott, who said "little appears to have changed" from his time as Prime Minister when he was "consistently out of touch with the public about Britain's relationship with the EU".

He added: "Blair’s record on the EU was a disaster - he broke his referendum promise on the EU constitution, he surrendered important British vetos, threw away billions in our rebate and was desperate to take Britain into the Euro. He was wrong then and he is wrong now."

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown leave Afghanistan Memorial Service

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