'That bus has gone': EU sees no Brexit U-turn now

Brussels

TONY Blair wants fellow Britons to "rise up" and block or soften Brexit, but it may now be out of their hands - many Europeans just want them to get on and get out.

After their June referendum vote to quit the EU, stunned European leaders insisted Britons were welcome to change their minds. That may have encouraged those like ex-premier Blair who last week challenged Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to launch the process next month and exit in two years whatever the EU offers.

Yet, whatever their hopes of legal obstacles or of an electoral backlash, the mood across the rest of the bloc has shifted away. While officially the door remains open to Britain to stay, many on the continent would not welcome a U-turn now. "This bus has left," said one senior EU diplomat. "No one is happy about it. But we have moved on and the last thing anyone wants now is to reopen the whole issue." To be sure, with close-fought ele…