Blair and Paxman interview

Tony Blair has 'defended' his decision to go to war against Iraq. He said this an interview with Jeremy Paxman, which is to be broadcast on 21st April 2005.

He told BBC Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman people had to make their own judgement but he took the decision he had to.

"If you want me to apologise for the war in Iraq, I'm afraid I cannot say that I'm sorry we removed Saddam Hussein," the Labour leader said.

Saddam was no angel, granted, but this doesn't justify attacking a nation who had never threatened to harm us. It also doesn't justify innocents who have been killed because of our invasion. Sanctions and weekly bombings from US and UK airplanes contributed in harming the Iraqi people; people who had caused no harm to the United States or the United Kingdom.

He said going to war in Iraq had been a "hard decision" taken for the right reasons.

"You can go through these issues about my integrity, my character, the legal advice... or you can accept that in the end a decision had to be taken.

Oh really? What exactly are these 'reasons'? I don't believe a decision had to be taken. Saddam never possessed weapons of mass destruction and the evidence presented to Blair was false.