The UK will officially leave the EU under Boris Johnson’s leadership this evening. This follows years of pushback from senior politicians such as the former Tory Prime Minister John Major and the ex-Labour Prime Minister Mr Blair. Mr Blair campaigned first in favour of staying in the EU in the lead-up to the 2016 referendum and then pushed for a ‘People’s Vote’ in the following years after his initial campaign lost.

However, speaking in BBC Radio 4’s 2018 series ‘Brexit: A Lovely Story?’, Ms Stuart revealed how her former boss’ approach to the bloc was flawed from the beginning.

Ms Stuart, who worked under Mr Blair’s Government, said: “One of the most important things about Tony Blair is his wish, desire, and almost need, to define his own relationships.

“And he thought he could make Europe change the way it operates. And of course, you can’t change Europe – it is a different way of making decisions.”

She was a firm supporter of the europhile Mr Blair during her time in office, yet she became Chair of the Vote Leave campaign committee in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum.

Since then, she has served as the Chair of Change Britain, the successor to Vote Leave.

She stepped down as an MP before the 2017 general election.

Mr Blair’s “spin doctor” Alastair Campbell admitted in the same podcast: “Tony was the most pro-European Prime Minister we’ve had in modern times.

“Yet I think even he – at times – would have been tempering his sense of pro-Europeanism because he knew that it wasn’t always terribly popular here.

“And there were parts of the EU he wasn’t terribly keen on.”

Mr Blair did admit that Brussels “should reform and change” when speaking to Radio 4.

He told podcast presenter Mr Mardell: “All the way through my time as Prime Minister, I had a message for the country, which is we should realise our future lies in Europe, and a message for the European institutions which was that we must change.

“I think Europe brings a lot upon itself, which is losing sight of what would really rally support for the Europe, which is helping to deal with the problems in the everyday lives of people.”

Yet, he still believed “breaking up” the European Union did not need to happen.

Mr Mardell commented: “Even Tony Blair could not swim against the tide of public and press opinion – or at least, did not want to squander his political capital on that project.”

Mr Blair was also behind the controversial decision of 2004, to allow Eastern European migrants unfettered access to all of Britain when the EU expanded.

Many credit this political move with strengthening euroscepticism within Britain, particularly as few other European countries permitted such unlimited access to their nations.

Germany, for instance, introduced a restriction on free movement and certain services.

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In an article published in The Guardian today, Ms Stuart also revealed that even during his first term in office, Mr Blair pushed for his ministers to go and learn foreign languages.

He would reportedly emphasise the importance of working with sister parties across the continent too.

However, Mr Blair admitted in the podcast that he is not sure he could have “moved the needle much” on public opinion even if he had done more.

He explained: “I did make the case for Europe, and yeah, possibly I could have done more but I’m not sure I would have moved the needle much.

“What you have to do is to keep explaining to people why it’s a necessary part of Britain’s place in the modern world.

And then, whatever Government had been in power, at any point in time in Britain’s relationship since 1973 with Europe, if you had held a referendum, it would have been touch and go.

“Whether in Margaret Thatcher’s time, my time or any other time.”

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