Crush IS now, says former British premier Tony Blair

Military intervention is needed to ensure Islamic State is “crushed”, says former British prime minister, Tony Blair.

Blair described the attacks in Brussels as “shocking”, but said such attacks would keep happening unless extremism was tackled.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said that the roots of Islamism, including the immaturity of political systems and the exploitation of a genuine sense of injustice over the Palestinian issue, needed to be understood to be countered. Mr Blair said that a new strategy was needed to defeat extremism and this should include greater co-operation between intelligence agencies.