By Petition to remove Sir Tony Blair’s knighthood hits over 500,000 signatures
Over 500,000 people have signed a petition calling for former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair to have his knighthood removed.
The Labour politician, who was in power from 1997 to 2007, received the accolade in the New Year Honours List.
The petition calling for the removal of the knighthood complains that his role in the Iraq war makes him “personally responsible” for many deaths and accuses him of “war crimes”.
However, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer came to his support, stating that Sir Tony Blair “deserves” his knighthood.
The Labour leader told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the former prime minister had “vastly improved our country” and such recognition should be “straightforward”.
In the New Year Honours List Sir Tony became a member of the Order of the Garter, England’s oldest and most senior order of chivalry.
The appointment was the personal choice of the Queen, who has up to 24 ‘knight and lady companions.’
The petition, posted on the change.org website by Angus Scott, says Sir Tony: “caused irreparable damage to both the constitution of the United Kingdom and to the very fabric of the nation’s society.”
It added: “He was personally responsible for causing the death of countless innocent, civilian lives and servicemen in various conflicts. For this alone he should be held accountable for war crimes,”
“Tony Blair is the least deserving person of any public honour, particularly anything awarded by Her Majesty the Queen.”
When asked whether Sir Tony’s honour was a “thorny” issue, Sir Keir told GMB: “I don’t think it’s thorny at all. I think he deserves the honour.
“Obviously I respect the fact that people have different views. I understand there are strong views on the Iraq war. There were back at the time and there still are, but that does not detract from the fact that Tony Blair was a very successful prime minister of this country and made a huge difference to the lives of millions of people.”
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