petition tony blairs knighthood gets hundreds

Sakini, whose Sairoun party won the largest number of seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections last October, said giving Blair the title was effectively ' honouring the violation' that was the Iraq war. 'Especially for Tony Blair, who participated in the occupation of Iraq and was a major reason for wasting the resources of this country.' 'Of course this is neither appropriate nor correct,' said Sakini, who is also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi parliament. Tony Blair: Iraqis 'disgusted' at knighthood being offered to war architect Read More » Rami al-Sakini, an Iraqi for the southern city of Basra, which fell under British administration following the invasion, told Middle East Eye that the knighthood should be withdrawn. Iraqi anger at knighthoodĪ number of Iraqi politicians and activists have expressed their 'disgust' at the decision to hand Blair the honour, saying it appeared to validate his involvement in the war. 'It says a lot about what is wrong with our system when, after being one of the leading architects of the Iraq war, Tony Blair is honoured with a knighthood while Julian Assange, who exposed war crimes in Iraq, faces extradition to the USA and a lifetime in prison,' wrote Burgon. However, left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon on Friday tweeted criticism of the knighthood, contrasting it with the treatment of imprisoned campaigner Julian Assange.

There was further anger on Wednesday after it was claimed by Blair's former defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, that he had been told to 'burn' a memo from the British attorney general that cast doubt on the legality of the Iraq war.īlair's successor as leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, has defended the honour, describing him as a 'very successful prime minister of this country and made a huge difference to the lives of millions of people in this country'. Tony Blair is the least deserving person of any public honour, particularly anything awarded by Her Majesty the Queen.'īlair has been accused of war crimes over his role in the invasion of Iraq, which toppled longtime ruler Saddam Hussein and led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, widespread internecine violence and ongoing instability in Iraq and beyond.

For this alone, he should be held accountable for war crimes.

'He was personally responsible for causing the death of countless innocent civilian lives and servicemen in various conflicts. 'Tony Blair caused irreparable damage to both the constitution of the United Kingdom and to the very fabric of the nation's society,' wrote Scott on the petition's page. A petition calling for former British prime minister Tony Blair to be stripped of his knighthood has reached more than one million signatures as anger continues to grow over the Iraq war architect being handed the honour over the new year.īy Saturday morning the petition, started by v oice-over artist and actor Angus Scott on, had reached just under 1,035,000 signatures and was continuing to grow.īlair's inclusion in the New Year Honours list anoints him Sir Tony and makes him a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry.

Petition tony blairs knighthood gets hundreds