Former PM publishes paper outlining options such as making EU migrants show they have offer of a job before entering UK

Tony Blair declared a “renewed sense of mission” to fight against Brexit on Sunday as he insisted Britain could impose tough new restrictions on immigration without leaving the EU.

In the first of a series of interventions he plans this autumn as Brexit talks intensify, the former prime minister’s Institute for Global Change has published a paper setting out a series of ways in which the UK could restrict immigration within existing EU free movement rules.

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Speaking on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show, Blair said: “If, for example, the anxiety is downward pressure on wages as a result of an influx of EU migrants coming and doing work, say in the construction industry, we have it within our power to deal with that through domestic legislation.”



He also suggested the mood within the EU on the meaning of free movement was changing, with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, backing a directive that would crack down on using migrants to undercut the wages of domestic workers.

“If we want to deal with those questions, we can deal with them without the sledgehammer that through Brexit destroys the EU migration that we’ll actually need,” he said.

Speaking as parliament prepares for a showdown over the EU withdrawal bill on Monday, Blair urged politicians sceptical about Brexit to voice their concerns publicly.

“Brexit is a distraction, not a solution, to the problems this country faces. If members of parliament really believe that, then their obligation is to set out solutions that deal with the actual communities and problems people have, and not do Brexit which is actually going to distract us from those solutions.”

The report published by Blair’s institute, which is written by the former Downing Street adviser Harvey Redgrave, suggests migrants could be asked to show they have a verifiable job offer before they can travel to Britain, and could lose the right to rent a home or claim benefits if they do not have the right to remain.

Like non-EU migrants, they could also face higher tuition fees at British universities.



It also points out that some EU countries such as Belgium have a tougher migration regime within the existing free movement rules, requiring new arrivals to register.



Blair’s proposals stop well short, however, of the crackdown recommended in a Home Office paper obtained by the Guardian last week, which suggested low-skilled workers would be unlikely to be allowed to stay for more than two years.



Blair also suggested Britain could negotiate an emergency brake on immigration with the rest of the EU, focusing not on benefits as David Cameron did during his EU renegotiation, but on the impact of a rapid influx of people.

He denied that his government had failed to realise the potential impact of migration, insisting that voters’ minds had been changed by the costs of the financial crisis and seven years of austerity.

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“2017, post-financial crisis, post-austerity, you’ve got to listen to what people are saying, and react,” he said.

Some of the measures Blair set out, to tackle undercutting, for example, are similar to the approach taken by Labour. Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly advocated the posted workers directive, one of the EU measures Blair recommends.

Blair renewed his criticism of the Labour leader, however, saying one of his fears was “Brexit combined with an unreconstructed leftist programme from Labour”. “Then we will be in very serious trouble,” he said.

The defence secretary, Michael Fallon, also appeared on Marr on Sunday and rejected Blair’s argument, saying it contradicted his approach when in government. “It’s a bit late now, this epiphany. I’m not sure where he’s been,” he said. “Well I do know where he’s been, he’s been travelling the world.

“The country’s decided we’re leaving the EU; we’ve got to get on with that. Tony Blair’s got to get over it.”

The Unite union boss, Len McCluskey, said Blair had missed the point because the only way to stop the abuse of migrant workers by “greedy bosses”, which brings about undercutting of wages and conditions, was to properly regulate the jobs market after Brexit.

Describing the ex-PM as yesterday’s man, McCluskey told Pienaar’s Politics on BBC Radio Five Live: “He’s as out of touch now as he was in 2004.

“He doesn’t address the idea because what Tony Blair and the New Labour government were a part of, and certainly what the Conservatives have continued, is creating this race to the bottom culture within our society rather than a rate for the job society.”