Tony Blair says Theresa May will win general election

Theresa May is on course to win the general election if the opinion polls are correct, according to the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“If the polls are right we know who is going to be prime minister on June 9 – that’s not the issue. It'll be Theresa May,” he told Sky News

It comes after Mr Blair said earlier this week that Labour risked losing the election if it failed to make Brexit the most prominent issue of the six-week campaign. He urged Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, not to run a “conventional partisan election” operation and treat Britain’s exit from the EU as a side issue alongside the NHS and austerity cuts.

Mr Blair, who has been a vocal critic of Mr Corbyn’s leadership, also failed to endorse the Labour leader but insisted he would be voting for the party at the general election in six weeks’ time.

Speaking about a potential victory for Ms May at the general election, he continued: “If the polls are right – so I’m not predicting that.

“I don’t think that is the real issue in this election. I think the real issue is blank cheque - it’s what mandate does she claim, both on Brexit and the health service, education and all the other things.

“I think that’s the most powerful argument for Labour in this election, because of the way the polls are and the way the opinion polls are on the leadership issue.”

“The most powerful argument for Labour is to say it’s important for our democracy that the Government is held properly to account and she needs a strong opposition.”

He also used the interview to warn about the perils of leaving the single market and urged the Prime Minister to make it a priority in the Brexit negotiations.

"I think the big missing question that has got to be there is a question that might sound extraordinarily technical but is absolutely fundamental to the future prosperity of this country, which is in the Brexit negotiation, are we taking membership of the single market and the customs union off the table, which I think we probably are,” he said.

"If we are and we're going for a free trade agreement, rather than membership of the single market, that's a massive for the prosperity of the British economy. That's why our currency is down 15%."

On Tuesday the former Labour Prime Minister was also forced to clarify remarks he had made at the weekend, adding “for the avoidance of doubt” he was not urging tactical voting after he advised voters to consider backing Labour’s rivals in the election in order to weaken Theresa May’s desire to pursue a hard Brexit.

In an article for the Guardian, he added: “I have not urged tactical voting. It is up to each voter to make their mind up on how they will vote. I only want people to make an informed choice. Of course, I hope people will vote Labour, as I will.”