Blair tells Zapatero 'listen to los Indignados'

 

Tony Blair yesterday met with Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to discuss the peace process in the middle east following the ‘Arab Spring' protests which brought a number of changes in Arab countries. The former Prime Minster of the UK's was doing this in his current role as the 'Official envoy of the quartet on the Middle East'.

Mr Blair also spoke to the PM with regards to the on-going protests currently effecting the major cities, commenting : "as a political leader in a democracy, you must listen to the protests in the street, but you must not allow them to govern you."

He continued "My problem with street protests, is that if you're not careful the media will end up creating a situation where they have legitimacy not only in their right to protest, but also in what they are saying."

Member of the Spanish press also reported that the former PM gave Zapatero an insight as to how he handled similar situations, by asking protest groups what their solutions to the problems they are demonstrating against would be. He went on to say how he understood the concerns of the wider public, however, that ‘political leaders were elected to make decisions and these decisions become policies.

Despite urging him to listen to the protestors, he reminded the PM ‘that politicians are human beings who make difficult decisions in complex circumstances'.