Blair: G8 will defy this barbaric attack

The G8 leaders will press ahead with their summit in defiance of the terrorists who have struck in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today.

Mr Blair will make an emergency visit to the capital to see the devastation for himself.

However, he return to the summit tonight to press ahead with his twin agenda on African development and global warming.

And he said fellow world leaders were united in their determination to “discuss the issues that we were going to discuss and reach the conclusions that we were going to reach”.

“Each of the countries around that table have some experience of the effects of terrorism and all the leaders, as they will indicate a little bit later, share our complete resolution to defeat terrorism.

“It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long term problems of climate change and the environment.”

The day began on an optimistic note as Mr Blair and US President George Bush talked up the prospects of an agreement on climate change.

However, soon afterwards the Prime Minister received the first indications of what had happened in the capital.

Aides kept him informed as he prepared to make his televised statement form the Gleneagles Hotel.

“Just as it is reasonably clear that this is a terrorist attack or a series of terrorist attacks it is also reasonably clear that it is designed and aimed to coincide with the opening of the G8,” he said.

“There will be time to talk later about this.

“It is important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire impose extremism on the world.

“Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dearin this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world.”