Talking to Sky News, Mr Abbott said the West should continue to work with what he called "live-and-let-live" Muslims, as he issued an implicit criticism of political leaders appeasing Islam by suggesting there was a crisis of confidence and a lack of self-belief in Western societies and governments. Tony Abbott. Credit:Andrew Meares "If there is a problem today it is not just a problem within Islam, which is very serious, but it's also a lack of cultural self-belief within the West and Australia," he said in comments markedly different in tone to the conciliatory words of Mr Turnbull in the wake of the Paris attacks. "There's got to be a very strong security response home and abroad," Mr Abbott said. "We need a strong hearts-and-mind approach. We need to work closely with 'live and let live' Muslims. There needs to be a revolution within Islam. We can't do it; Muslims need to do it for themselves. The other thing needed is a restoration of cultural self-confidence in those who are supporters of Western cultural civilisation."

Mr Abbott is unlikely to decide on his future until April - when a Liberal candidate for his seat of Warringah must be endorsed - but he gave strong indications of the direction in which he is leaning, extolling the "vocation" of a backbench MP as a "noble, honourable, calling". "I've had thousands and thousands of messages of encouragement since mid September. The message I'm getting is I still have a contribution to make to public life. I'm not going to rush in the final decision, but that's the message I'm getting from people," he told the broadcaster's Paul Murray. If Malcolm Turnbull was hoping his former boss would make a quick and quiet departure, the signs suggest otherwise. Mr Abbott said: "I think it's important to correct the record when the record has been falsified. I did a bit of that last week, but I'm not in the business of replaying events ... but it's important I defend the legacy of the Abbott government. "If I defend the legacy of my government, I'm helping the foundations of the Turnbull government."

On the politically disastrous 2014 budget, which most Liberals now concede consumed all their goodwill with voters in a flurry of broken promises, Mr Abbott was direct, declaring it was Labor's refusal to pass the measures aimed at budget repair that was the problem. "Whoever led the Coalition, I believe we were going to win the next election and win it quite strongly, because obviously on all the evidence so far, the Labor Party can't learn and it hasn't changed." The statement is likely to excite furious disagreement from the Liberals who backed the September coup based on an entrenched an apparently permanent poll deficit to Labor under Mr Abbott's leadership, a situation instantly remedied by the switch to Mr Turnbull. In other observations, Mr Abbott: again defended his controversial chief of staff, Peta Credlin;

refused to say if Buckingham Palace had asked for the knighthood for Prince Philip, but acknowledged it had been a political own goal;

criticised crossbench senators as populists who had breached his trust by revealing private discussions, because they lacked seriousness and had reduced politics to a circus;

confirmed he and Mr Turnbull had held a meeting last week, which was "certainly a genuine conversation" but declined to reveal details;

welcomed what he termed "straws in the wind" suggesting the Obama administration was becoming more muscular in taking the fight to Islamic State;

condemned Vladimir Putin for bombing opponents of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad rather than IS;

and called for Australia's relationship with Singapore to become as familial as that with New Zealand.

Mr Abbott also revealed he will travel to Singapore on Wednesday for talks, including with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Fairfax Media revealed last week that Mr Abbott's attempt to gain an audience with the Queen in the days after his September ousting had been rebuffed. Follow us on Twitter