Tony Blair defends Iraq war and release of Lockerbie bomber

Speaking in the US on the David Letterman show, Blair said that removing Saddam Hussein had made the world a safer place.

The former Labour leader received applause from the audience when he said, "it was right my country stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder with America," following the 11 September terrorist attacks.

"I think that both our countries together have got to unite in order to defeat this menace. And it is a menace, and it's not confined, I'm afraid to Iraq or Afghanistan. It's worldwide, it's real and it's got to be defeated."

He also spoke of how he was finding life after Number 10 saying that he was glad he could now choose his intray and "concentrate on a few things", but admitted that he sometimes wished he could go back.

On the subject of the highly contentious release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, Blair defended the decision saying it would help promote peace.

However he admitted it was an extremely difficult decision, and drew parrallels with his experience in the Northern Ireland peace process.

"I think the hardest thing I ever did was sit down with the families of the victims of IRA terrorism."

"And they were good, decent people, and they'd say to me, 'How can you sit in the same room with the people responsible for killing my son or my daughter?,' and my answer to that was because I believe if they are prepared to change we can save lives and make peace in the future."

"It's an incredibly difficult argument to make to anyone who's actually suffered a loss from terrorism."