Tony Blair '˜feels sorry' for Theresa May

Tony Blair says he feels 'sorry' for Theresa May as she is surrounded by people waiting to 'throw her off the ledge'.

Tony Blair says he has some sympathy for the prime minister. Picture: PA

The former prime minister said he believed Mrs May has the “best interests of the country at heart” although reiterated he strongly disagrees with her about how to approach Brexit.

Mr Blair, asked if he feels any sympathy for Mrs May, told Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: “Yeah, I do, of course, because I know what it’s like to do the job.

“I think it’s a very unsatisfactory situation where you’ve got the Prime Minister surrounded by people who are just waiting for the moment they decide to throw her off the ledge.

“I think there’s something a little unseemly about all of it really.

“And I do feel sorry for her because she is somebody who has got the best interests of the country at heart, it’s just that I profoundly disagree with her about Brexit.

“I understand why she thinks ‘Look, the people have spoken, my job is to deliver that verdict’.

“But I would just like to see more leadership and less followership.”

Asked if he could empathise with the “sharks circling” around the PM, Mr Blair replied: “When you’ve done the job, it’s a small club of people, you realise it’s very tough.

“It’s a great privilege to do it, of course, but you’re taking decisions all the time, every day, and you’re under enormous pressure and, yeah, the sharks are always circling.”