The broadcaster certainly didn’t hold his tongue in an explosive on-air rant following the politician’s controversial comments.

Tony Blair came under fire for his explosive comments slamming Keir Starmer on the Iran conflict (Image: PA)

LBC presenter James O’Brien exploded at former Prime Minister Tony Blair live on air following his controversial comments to Sir Keir Starmer. On Friday (March 6), the former Labour leader slammed Starmer for failing to support US strikes on Iran. The politician rebuked the current Prime Minister, insisting he should have backed Donald Trump immediately after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

Blair, who supported the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, certainly didn’t hold his tongue when he attended a private lunch. As reported by The Telegraph, the 72-year-old urged that no matter the ally, “you better show up”. He added that the current conflict in the Middle East is “not like Vietnam” or the “Iraq campaign (where we sent) thousands of British troops.”

’No one hears Tony Blair calling for another illegal war in the Middle East and thinks: “that’s exactly what we need.”‘

James O’Brien can’t believe the ‘sheer bloody front’ of Tony Blair telling Keir Starmer to join the war in Iran. pic.twitter.com/IXyr0j1EBB

— LBC (@LBC) March 9, 2026

On Monday afternoon (March 9), O’Brien returned to the airwaves where he slammed the former British leader’s comments in an explosive rant. He fumed: “Tony Blair. How old do you have to be to have a genuine sense of shock at the sheer bloody front of the man?

“I genuinely can’t imagine anybody observing the events of last week, ending up on Friday night or Saturday night in a place of some confusion and uncertainty, waking up on Sunday morning to discover that Tony Blair has said Keir Starmer should have joined this illegal war and going: ‘Oh, well that changes everything. Come on Starmer, pull your socks up and get us into Iran as soon as possible’.

“I genuinely don’t believe, up to and including his own family, that anybody would respond to Tony Blair’s call for another illegal war in the Middle East by deciding that just the thing we need, and the thing we should be doing, is to join another illegal war in the Middle East.”

James O’Brien slammed the ex-Labour leader on his radio show (Image: LBC)

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It comes after Trump recently branded Starmer “no Winston Churchill” in a row over the refusal to allow the use of UK bases for US-Israel strikes on Iran. He told reporters at the Oval Office that he was “not happy with the UK” as the decision meant US planes had to fly “many extra hours.”

The Prime Minister has since granted the US permission to use UK bases. It was also reported that the HMS Prince of Wales, a huge aircraft carrier, is readying for possible deployment to the Middle East.