Tony Blair today called for a change in international law and reform of the United Nations to deal with the ongoing threat of rogue states.

In an impassioned and personal defence of the war in Iraq in the run up to the anniversary of last year's invasion, the Prime Minister proposed a new doctrine to allow the United Nations to intervene against dictatorships and impose Western values, no matter how painful.

Speaking in his Sedgefield constituency, he said: "It may well be that under international law as presently constituted, a regime can systematically brutalise and oppress its people and there is nothing anyone can do, when dialogue, diplomacy and even sanctions fail.

"This may be the law, but should it be?"

He said that democracy and prosperity reduced the threat of fanaticism. "The best defence of our security lies in the spread of our values… within a country, citizens who are free, well educated and prosperous tend to be responsible, to feel solidarity with a society in which they have a stake; so do nations that are free, democratic and benefiting from economic progress, tend to be stable and solid partners in the advance of humankind."

But he said that these values could be advanced only within a global framework.

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