| Tony makes the record and the threat perfectly clear. We might disagree with him on any number of social or political issues, but Tony has the heart of a lion. |
The former prime minister was barracked by a member of the public as he made his closing statement at the end of a six-hour grilling at the Iraq inquiry. He said Iraqis were now better off and he would take the same decisions again.
| "I never regarded 11 September as an attack on America, I regarded it as an attack on us." --Tony Blair |
Committee chairman Sir John Chilcot asked Mr Blair at the end of the session if he had any regrets about the war, but Mr Blair said that although he was "sorry" it had been "divisive" he believed it had been right to remove Saddam.
"It was better to deal with this threat, to remove him from office and I do genuinely believe the world is a safer place as a result."
He told the inquiry if Saddam had not been removed "today we would have a situation where Iraq was competing with Iran" both in terms of nuclear capability and "in respect of support of terrorist groups".
"The decision I took - and frankly would take again - was if there was any possibility that he could develop weapons of mass destruction we should stop him."
Sometimes it is important not to ask the "March 2003 question" but the "2010 question", said Mr Blair, arguing that if Saddam had been left in power the UK and its allies would have "lost our nerve" to act. He also stressed the importance of taking a "tough line" with Iran, accusing the country of colluding with al-Qeada to destabilise Iraq in the aftermath of the invasion, rejecting claims the UK had taken a "cavalier" attitude to post-war planning.