Tony Blair has launched an astonishing attack on Jeremy Corbyn for condemning the Iraq war but standing by while Syrian people are barrel-bombed.
The former Labour prime minister made the remarks when he was asked about war crimes during a TV interview.
Mr Blair’s behaviour in the build-up to the Iraq war is set to be closely scrutinised when the long-awaited Chilcot report is published next month.
He told Bloomberg television: “I’m accused of being a war criminal for removing Saddam Hussein - who by the way was a war criminal - and yet Jeremy is seen as a progressive icon as we stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing."
Mr Blair then went on to accuse the Labour leader of being more interested in protesting than winning elections.
He said: “There’s a guy whose face is on the placard. That’s me: hate that guy. You’re the person in power taking difficult decisions.
“Jeremy is the guy with the placard, he’s the guy holding it. One’s the politics of power and the other’s the politics of protest.”
Mr Blair also argued that the rise of Mr Corbyn in the UK and Republican presidential election nominee Donald Trump in the US could be down to the “revolutionary phenomenon” of social media.
He said social media could “create waves of sentiment and emotion” and promoted the idea that complex problems have simple solutions.
