Tony Blair. Pic/AFP

London: Former British prime minister Tony Blair issued a battle cry against a so called ‘hard Brexit’ on Friday, calling on voters, businesses and campaigners to “rise up” and back a coordinated effort to temper the terms of, or even halt, Britain’s EU exit. In his first major political intervention since the EU referendum, Blair said Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May was pursuing “Brexit at any cost”, and must be challenged.