Tony Blair is determined to stop Brexit. We knew this months ago when we decided to set-up our 'Stop Blair' campaign. If you read the Daily Mail this morning, you can see that our former Prime Minister is at it again. 

Speaking at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, he described Brexit as "a self-harming act". When asked directly if he thinks it is possible to undo Brexit, he said he didn't know, but suggested that the vote could be reversed. And we know he has been doing his best to reverse it. 

Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns at The Freedom Association discusses the story that the BBC has awarded inflation busting pay rises to 1800 staff, totally £13.9 million. 

The following is a guest post by the Rev Dr Peter Mullen, Hon. Chaplain of The Freedom Association. 

Miguel Rodríguez Torres, a Venezuelan general who served as President Maduro’s interior minister in 2013 and 2014, has warned that his country is on the verge of civil war. Large riots and protests have intensified in every major city, including the working class neighborhoods which once firmly supported Maduro’s government.

When you have the time, do read this article from Stephen Oryszczuk, the Jewish News Foreign Editor. It is an article full of questions and not answers, however, he asks he right questions. Here is an extract:

Many cities in the United States are raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21 years. Some of the rhetoric coming out of the groups campaigning for draconian legislation would be at home in a totalitarian state. It's not what you would expect (or shouldn't expect) from a country that likes to think that it leads the free world. 

Detroit Lakes is one of those US cities contemplating raising the age, and supporters don't want to stop there. They are also "discussing exceeding state law in defining vaping as smoking, banning vaping where smoking is banned and removing the business owners right to choose, banning smoking/vaping patios, etc."

Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns at The Freedom Association, discussed the issue of security v freedom on BBC Three Counties Radio, in the wake of more Islamist terrorist atrocities in Spain. The other guest is Professor Anthony Glees, Director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham. The presenter is Yasmeen Khan. 

Writing in City AM this morning, Rory Broomfield, Director of The Freedom Association, argues that there is a case for the UK to lobby for Ireland's inclusion into the Five Eyes Alliances. 

After it was revealed last week that London Midland (which has just lost its franchise to run trains) is threatening to send vapers to court for using e-cigarettes on trains, The Freedom Association's Freedom to Vape campaign sent the following Freedom of Information request to the British Transport Police. 

If you live in Yorkshire, today is Yorkshire Day. I do, so I will wish you Happy Yorkshire Day! If you are in Switzerland, today is the Swiss National Day. And the Swiss have a lot to celebrate. They have a good working relationship with the European Union, but do not have Brussels' bureaucrats meddling in their laws. Switzerland is fourth on Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom - and the freest country in Europe. 

Over the past year, the term 'despite Brexit' has been used to describe (with some irony) all the good news that has been reported in the UK economy. It has been used in countless headlines, articles and op-eds by newspapers like the FT, the Guardian and the Independent to illustrate - often with high levels of shock - how well the UK economy is doing in comparison to what they expected.