A second referendum on EU membership should not be ruled out, Tony Blair said this morning as a petition demanding a re-run hit an extraordinary 3million signatures.

The former Labour prime minister admitted the prospect seems unlikely but suggested MPs could consider the option once a new deal had been struck with the EU within the next couple of years.

Business minister Anna Soubry promoted the petition calling on the Government to stage a second referendum despite a record 33.5million people taking part in Thursday’s referendum, which delivered a 4 per cent margin in favour of cutting ties with Brussels.

Remarkably, Labour MP David Lammy went a step further yesterday as he said his colleagues should vote to overturn the ‘non-binding’ decision in Parliament for the sake of the economy.

But – as anti-Brexit protests broke out on the streets of London and Edinburgh yesterday – Nigel Farage slammed those demanding a second EU referendum, saying ‘it’s not the best of three’.

Thousands flooded the streets of London to demonstrate against Thursday’s Brexit result, and more than 2.5million people signed a petition asking for another vote.

Ukip leader Mr. Farage, who hailed the result as ‘a new dawn’ for Britain on Thursday morning, said another vote was ‘the last think I want to see’, the Sunday Mirror reported.

He previously credited votes in Labour heartlands for the Brexit result, and again today claimed that Lammy’s demands that MPs ‘ignore the referendum result’ would drive more of their voters to Ukip.

The protests against the EU referendum result came despite a record 33.5million people taking part in the referendum – the highest in any election since 1992 – in which Leave won with 51.9 per cent, a margin of 1,269,501 votes.

Mr. Blair, when asked about the possibility of another vote, told BBC’s Sunday Politics programme: ‘As I’m looking at it here, I can’t see how we can do that. ‘But, you know, the point is, why rule anything out right now?

‘As I say, you are going to have a reality to test yourself against.’ Mr. Blair said the nation needs to ‘see the consequences’ of Brexit as they play out in the coming weeks and months.

‘I can’t see how you would go through all of the mechanics of another referendum now,’ he continued. ‘I just can’t see it.

‘But on the other hand I also think there will be a lot of people in the country who will say ‘well, let’s have a look at this and see what we are going to do’ and Parliament will want to look at it.’

Mr. Blair also warned that negotiating the UK’s new relationship with the EU will be an ‘agonising and highly complicated process’.

He said that failure to strike a good deal with the EU would have severe consequences for the UK economy.

He said: ‘If you take for example financial services, if we don’t have the EU passport as it’s called for our financial services what does that mean for the City of London?

‘You could have thousands of jobs going, so how do you preserve it?’

However, he also urged the Government not to rush the UK’s divorce with Brussels.

‘It is not in the interests of Europe or of Britain to rush this,’ he said.

‘We are dealing with vast consequences for our economy, for our politics, for our security and we have got to take it very carefully.’

Yesterday, Mr. Lammy said some ‘leave’ supporters now regret their votes and we should not destroy the economy ‘on the basis of lies and the hubris of Boris Johnson.’

Already, 2.5million people have signed the petition, which the Government must now consider debating in the House of Commons, which it must do for any which gets more than 100,000 names.

But the majority of signatures are from people in London and areas with a high population of studentsA second referendum on EU membership should not be ruled out, Tony Blair said this morning as a petition demanding a re-run hit an extraordinary 3million signatures.

The former Labour prime minister admitted the prospect seems unlikely but suggested MPs could consider the option once a new deal had been struck with the EU within the next couple of years.

Business minister Anna Soubry promoted the petition calling on the Government to stage a second referendum despite a record 33.5million people taking part in Thursday’s referendum, which delivered a 4 per cent margin in favour of cutting ties with Brussels.

Remarkably, Labour MP David Lammy went a step further yesterday as he said his colleagues should vote to overturn the ‘non-binding’ decision in Parliament for the sake of the economy.

But – as anti-Brexit protests broke out on the streets of London and Edinburgh yesterday – Nigel Farage slammed those demanding a second EU referendum, saying ‘it’s not the best of three’.

Thousands flooded the streets of London to demonstrate against Thursday’s Brexit result, and more than 2.5million people signed a petition asking for another vote.

Ukip leader Mr. Farage, who hailed the result as ‘a new dawn’ for Britain on Thursday morning, said another vote was ‘the last think I want to see’, the Sunday Mirror reported.

He previously credited votes in Labour heartlands for the Brexit result, and again today claimed that Lammy’s demands that MPs ‘ignore the referendum result’ would drive more of their voters to Ukip.

The protests against the EU referendum result came despite a record 33.5million people taking part in the referendum – the highest in any election since 1992 – in which Leave won with 51.9 per cent, a margin of 1,269,501 votes.

Mr. Blair, when asked about the possibility of another vote, told BBC’s Sunday Politics programme: ‘As I’m looking at it here, I can’t see how we can do that. ‘But, you know, the point is, why rule anything out right now?

‘As I say, you are going to have a reality to test yourself against.’ Mr. Blair said the nation needs to ‘see the consequences’ of Brexit as they play out in the coming weeks and months.

‘I can’t see how you would go through all of the mechanics of another referendum now,’ he continued. ‘I just can’t see it.

‘But on the other hand I also think there will be a lot of people in the country who will say ‘well, let’s have a look at this and see what we are going to do’ and Parliament will want to look at it.’

Mr. Blair also warned that negotiating the UK’s new relationship with the EU will be an ‘agonising and highly complicated process’.

He said that failure to strike a good deal with the EU would have severe consequences for the UK economy.

He said: ‘If you take for example financial services, if we don’t have the EU passport as it’s called for our financial services what does that mean for the City of London?

‘You could have thousands of jobs going, so how do you preserve it?’

However, he also urged the Government not to rush the UK’s divorce with Brussels.

‘It is not in the interests of Europe or of Britain to rush this,’ he said.

‘We are dealing with vast consequences for our economy, for our politics, for our security and we have got to take it very carefully.’

Yesterday, Mr. Lammy said some ‘leave’ supporters now regret their votes and we should not destroy the economy ‘on the basis of lies and the hubris of Boris Johnson.’

Already, 2.5million people have signed the petition, which the Government must now consider debating in the House of Commons, which it must do for any which gets more than 100,000 names.

But the majority of signatures are from people in London and areas with a high population of students, which predominantly voted Remain, meaning the result may not be any different.

Thousands came from north London, Cambridge and Oxford, while more than 3,000 of David Cameron’s constituents also signed the petition.

Demonstrators waved EU flags, held posters saying ‘Yes 2 EU’ and banners claiming the older population ‘stole our future’.

Because it easily passed the 100,000 targets, MPs will be forced to consider the proposal in Parliament this summer.

The petition demands the Government re-stage the referendum because the winning vote for Leave was less than 60 per cent and was based on a turnout of less than 75 per cent. which predominantly voted Remain, meaning the result may not be any different.

Thousands came from north London, Cambridge and Oxford, while more than 3,000 of David Cameron’s constituents also signed the petition.

Demonstrators waved EU flags, held posters saying ‘Yes 2 EU’ and banners claiming the older population ‘stole our future’.

Because it easily passed the 100,000 targets, MPs will be forced to consider the proposal in Parliament this summer.

The petition demands the Government re-stage the referendum because the winning vote for Leave was less than 60 per cent and was based on a turnout of less than 75 per cent