The prime minister has given a muted reaction to the rioting at the G8 summit which left one protestor dead.

Tony Blair backed the Italian government for the way it handled unrest in Genoa over the weekend. By the end of the summit a 23-year-old protestor, Carlo Giuliani, had been shot dead and 92 others had been arrested after a raid on the protestors' headquarters by police.

The prime minister's official spokesman said on Monday that Tony Blair believed the police had a very difficult job to do. He added that as far as Downing Street was concerned the important thing at Genoa was to keep a sense of perspective.

Blair wanted the media to focus on the real outcomes rather than give blanket coverage to those intent on pursuing violence and he stressed "violence has no place on such occasions".

His remarks were in direct contrast to remarks made by foreign office minister Peter Hain, a veteran of anti-apartheid protests in the 60s and 70s, who had openly attacked police actions.

In a TV interview, Hain said the voice of the people outside the institutions "had to be heard".

"The way in which Genoa was handled has to be looked at and some serious questions posed and answered. The action of the police shooting and killing somebody, you can't defend that," Hain said.

He expressed concern over the violent behaviour of both sides.

"You can't defend what has been done in Genoa, either the balaclava demonstrators out there to basically trash the place and bust a skull if they can, or the over-reaction from the police," the minister said.

In Italy, the dissection of the police's tactics has already begun, along with the mopping-up operation to repair damage estimated by the government to run into millions.

At question time in the Italian parliament on Monday the opposition was set to call for the resignation of the minister of internal affairs, Claudio Scajola, over the events.

Scajola has hit back at his critics saying responsibility rests with the chief of police in Genoa.

The verdict of the Italian press on the events divided along political lines according to whether they are supporters of new PM Silvio Berlusconi.

La Repubblica, a broadly left-leaning paper, strongly criticised the police and the internal affairs minister for not distinguishing between the violent few and the peaceful many. It believed the death of the protestor could have been avoided. The paper was alarmed by what it saw as the "Chilean" approach to safety issues taken by the police.

It also questions whether the 20-year-old police officer Mario Placanica, who shot dead the protestor, was experienced enough to deal with the situation as he was a conscript on national service.

Il Corriere della Sera, the conservative daily, backed Berlusconi's approach to safety issues giving strong approval to the way the whole summit was managed.