Explore Quotes by Tony Blair

And just as the terrorist seeks to divide humanity in hate, so we have to unify it around an idea. And that idea is liberty.

The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.

I can only go one way. I've not got a reverse gear.

It is not an arrogant government that chooses priorities, it's an irresponsible government that fails to choose.

Anywhere, anytime ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom, not tyranny; democracy, not dictatorship; the rule of law, not the rule of the secret police.

Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.

The view we took at the time and we take it now is that the war was justified legally because he [Saddam Hussein] remained in breach of UN resolutions.

The world is a better place with Saddam in prison not in power.

It is absurd to say in respect of any intelligence that it is infallible, but if you ask me what I believe, I believe the intelligence was correct, and I think in the end we will have an explanation.

And the problem is, I can apologise for the information that turned out to be wrong, but I can't, sincerely at least, apologise for removing Saddam.

They could have been removed. They could have been hidden. They could have been destroyed.

We expected, I expected to find actual usable, chemical or biological weapons after we entered Iraq.

The evidence about Saddam having actual biological and chemical weapons, as opposed to the capability to develop them, has turned out to be wrong. I acknowledge that and accept it. I simply point out, such evidence was agreed by the whole international community, not least because Saddam had used such weapons against his own people and neighbouring countries.

What is true about (ex-Iraq Survey Group head) David Kay's evidence, and this is something I have to accept, and is one of the reasons why I think we now need a new inquiry - it is true David Kay is saying we have not found large stockpiles of actual weapons.

What we also know is we haven't found them [weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq - now let the survey group complete its work and give us the report... They will not report that there was no threat from Saddam, I don't believe.

The Iraq Survey Group has already found massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the intelligence was genuine.

I don't concede it at all that the intelligence at the time was wrong.

If we don't act now, then we will go back to what has happened before and then of course the whole thing begins again and he carries on developing these weapons and these are dangerous weapons, particularly if they fall into the hands of terrorists who we know want to use these weapons if they can get them.

Repressive states are developing weapons that could cause destruction on a massive scale.

I don't think it's surprising we will have to look for them. I'm confident that when the Iraq Survey Group has done its work we will find what's happened to those weapons because he had them.