Former Prime Minister Tony Blair says Britain must be involved in the Middle East.
The west’s fight against al Qaida is like the battle against revolutionary communism, former prime minister Tony Blair has claimed.
He said Britain was right to send troops to support the French effort in Mali to put down a terrorist plot to overthrow the government.
Britain at least had to try and “shape” events in the Middle East, he added, telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
Mr Blair said: “I think we should acknowledge how difficult these decisions are. We always want in the West, quite naturally, to go in and go out and think there is a clean result.
“It’s not going to happen like that. We now know that. It is going to be long and difficult and messy.
“My point is very simple though if you don’t intervene and let it happen, it is also going to be long, difficult and messy, and possibly a lot worse. It’s a very difficult decision.”
