Blair denounces atrocity as 'unspeakable evil'

Tony Blair condemned the bombings last night in Madrid as an "unspeakable evil" and said his government would redouble its efforts to "eliminate" terrorism.

"I would like to express deep condolences from the British people to the Spanish people in this terrible hour of tragedy in the face of absolute, unspeakable evil, which led to the death of so many innocent people.

"It's almost unbelievable that people should think that any cause could justify such an act."

Speaking in Dublin after talks with Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, Mr Blair said it was fitting he should make his first public address on the Madrid bombings in Ireland. He said the history of violence in Northern Ireland meant the British and Irish people knew only too well the horrors of terrorism. "These people themselves have known the devastation and the tragedy that terrorism can bring about. It's fitting that we should be here together and express jointly our deep sympathy and solidarity with Spain and the Spanish people at this time. I just hope that everyone understands that this type of atrocity has no place in our politics," he said.

Such attacks would only serve to "redouble our efforts to make sure that this terrorism is eliminated from the political sphere, whether in our own countries or in others".

But Mr Blair acknowledged that governments could only do so much to stop those prepared to bombs public places without warning.

"The fact is that we and the Spanish government do everything we can to protect our people against terrorism but there is a limit to the effectiveness of any strategy when people are prepared to go and kill perfectly innocent civilians in this way.

"We know we have to do everything we can on the politics side at a time like this to demonstrate our solidarity. We must stand together to say this type of brutality and evil is totally unacceptable for any cause in any part of our society," he said.