Now that Tony Blair is advising the Egyptian dictatorship, his removal as Middle East peace envoy is a moral and democratic necessity.

Since Egypt's first democratically elected president was overthrown in a military coup a year ago, the country has been gripped by brutal and sustained repression. Well over 2,500 protesters have been killed by the security forces. At least 20,000 have been jailed. More than 1,000 political activists have been sentenced to death. Torture is rampant, basic freedoms suppressed. Three al-Jazeera journalists were imprisoned for "spreading false news". General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is now president courtesy of a 96% endorsement in a sham election after his predecessor Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood was banned.

This is the regime that Tony Blair, Middle East peace envoy for the "Quartet" of the US, UN, EU and Russia, has now chosen to advise on "economic reform" as part of a programme funded by the United Arab Emirates. He hailed the coup that overthrew the elected government as the "absolutely necessary rescue of a nation".