Cameron: Arab Spring could breed extremism

The Arab Spring could breed “poisonous extremism” and immigration if wealthy nations do not step in to help fledgling democracies, David Cameron warned today.

Speaking as the G8 summit got under way in France, the British prime minister called on his fellow leaders to demonstrate they were “on the side” of reforming countries such as Egypt and Tunisia.

The US and UK are pushing for concrete pledges of financial aid at the two-day gathering in Deauville.

Washington has been urging “debt swaps”, where sums owed by countries are converted into investments.

“I want a very simple and clear message to come out of this summit, and that is that the most powerful nations on earth have come together and are saying to those in the Middle East and North Africa who want greater democracy, greater freedom, greater civil rights, we are on your side,” Mr Cameron said in a round of interviews.

“We will help you build your democracy, we will help your economies, we will help you build trade, we will help you in all the ways we can because the alternative to a successful democracy is more of the poisonous extremism that has done so much damage in our world.”

Mr Cameron defended spending UK money on aid at a time when the government is implementing austerity measures.

“What I would say to everybody about the issue of overseas aid is that there is a real case for saying if you can secure greater democracy and freedom in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, that is good for us back at home,” he said.

“That will mean less extremism, it will mean more peace and prosperity, it will mean there will not be the pressure on immigration that may otherwise face our country.

“These things are not just good for the countries we are talking about, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, they are good for Europe, they are good for us in the UK.

“That is why what we are talking about today and tomorrow here at the G8 in Deauville really matters.”