Tony Blair has attacked Jeremy Corbyn for branding him a "war criminal" over the invasion of Iraq while "doing nothing" to stop Syrians being "barrel bombed, beaten and starved".

The former prime minister told Bloomberg Television the Labour leader is more interested in the "politics of protest" than the "politics of power".

Mr Blair hit out at the Labour leader ahead of the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry next month.

Mr Blair is expected to be criticised in the report for the handling of the Iraq invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Mr Corbyn has previously suggested that Mr Blair could face trial for war crimes.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Prime Minister Tony Blair

I’m accused of being a war criminal for removing Saddam Hussein -- who by the way was a war criminal -- and yet Jeremy is seen as a progressive icon as we stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing. Tony Blair

The former premier said he was the "guy whose face is on the placard" for making "difficult decisions".

There’s a guy whose face is on the placard. That’s me: Hate that guy. You’re the person in power taking difficult decisions. Jeremy is the guy with the placard, he’s the guy holding it. One’s the politics of power and the other’s the politics of protest. Tony Blair

He added: "The issue is for me what is the best way that you take the traditional values of the left and apply them to the modern world, and it's always been that."

“Jeremy Corbyn is leading the opposition against the Conservative government,” a spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn said. “We were quite clear about our position on Syria, and how we achieve peace.”