Tony Blair has revealed in his memoirs that he thought Gordon Brown's period as Labour leader "was never going to work".

"I always took the view that if we departed a millimetre from New Labour we were going to be in trouble," he told Andrew Marr in an interview to mark the book's publication.

On Iraq, the former prime minster admits that he failed to foresee what he calls "the nightmare that unfolded" but he insists the military action was justified.

And he argued, in the interview with Andrew Marr, that the UK needed to be prepared to confront Iran, "militarily if necessary".

This a memoir like no other, Andrew Marr told the programme, with Blair casting himself as "manipulative" and "cowardly" but also as a man of destiny.

"There are all sorts of moments that leave your jaw sitting on the floor as you read them," Marr commented.

And, following the publication, BBC political editor Nick Robinson felt the need to apologise on-air for his reporting of the Blair-Brown rift.

"We didn't know the half of it. It was much much worse".