Tony Blair: 'Don't believe washing our hands of it and walking away will solve the problem'

The 2003 invasion of Iraq is not to blame for the violent insurgency now gripping the country, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.

Speaking to BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show he said that even if "Saddam had been left in place in 2003" later events would still have happened.

Mr Blair said that "washing our hands of the current problem would not make it go away".