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Sir Tony Blair: More than 400,000 people sign petition for former PM to be stripped of knighthood

IMMY69 said:
But the whole point of Democracy is to have your voice.
Signing a petition will likely come to nothing but it sends out a message that people will not accept any more phoney wars, being lied to and the killing of tens of thousands of people on the back is misinformation.
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Perhaps so - 700K signatories might give The Queen pause for thought but remember that one million marched against the Iraq War to no effect in 2003.
 
Robert said:
Agreed, it’s a cop out to make people feel better without doing any work. More people should get involved in politics.
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I've never actually signed an online petition in my life, but the answer which referred to Hebdo was aimed more as a response to the guy I was responding to who was not really looking for a solution either. We both understand each other.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Come on dude. Politics is rigged. Plus an honest man never succeeds in politics.
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This is why our current leaders are so bad!

Decent people stopped getting involved in politics - instead of attending meetings in drafty halls and stuffing leaflets through letterboxes in the rain, and actually knocking on doors to talk to voters, they stayed home in the warm watching the next box set on their 56” 4K thousand-channel telly.

And the political weeds grew in the cracks they left.
 
Robert said:
Writing letters to your MP often gets a reply though it tends to be a generic one.

Ten MPs out of 650 will turn up to Parliament and say “It’s up to The Queen not us” and that will be that.

Change the MPs for ones who will listen.
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The issue with changing MPs is the time. Unless there is a bi-election, MPs are up for election when the GE is on. This means MPs are up for election every 4 to 5 years.

Try explaining to someone who wants change to wait for 5 years, with the possibility change in MP may not even happen.
 
Robert said:
This is why our current leaders are so bad!

Decent people stopped getting involved in politics - instead of attending meetings in drafty halls and stuffing leaflets through letterboxes in the rain, and actually knocking on doors to talk to voters, they stayed home in the warm watching the next box set on their 56” 4K thousand-channel telly.

And the political weeds grew in the cracks they left.
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It’s also the system.

The last decent and honest MP I had the pleasure of speaking to was Vince Cable. An honest, decent, and humble man. However come GE, I just couldn’t vote for LDs.
 
Technics 1210 said:
It’s also the system.

The last decent and honest MP I had the pleasure of speaking to was Vince Cable. An honest, decent, and humble man. However come GE, I just couldn’t vote for LDs.
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His stock has decreased a lot as many LD members see him as being in cahoots with the CCP.
 
Colonel Tim Collins of the Royal Irish Regiment, Iraq War veteran, says Blair should refuse the Order.

Pretty big snub to the Sovereign if he did - wonder if anyone ever has?
 
Yes Iraq was wrong but he done a lot of good also. Kosovo and modernising Britain are just 2 examples.
 
Robert said:
The UN Charter was signed in late 1945.

Causus belli was to halt the invasion / spread of communism from NK to ROK I believe. The UN Security Council asked NK to withdraw, though Russia abstained and China was not yet recognised by the UN at that time so had no seat. They came in on the NK side later.

The USAF B-29s ranged all over north Korea and burned every city and town to the ground with napalm, killing 10% of the population. Even the hardcase Churchill described their tactics as cruel.

Attlee, Churchill, Eden and Macmillan later applied scorched earth and dumped Agent Orange in Malaya.

I suppose I’m raising a strawman here but my point is that no British PM has clean hands, and they all get knighted or a peerage.
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So riddle me this. How did China, and Russia, end up on the UN permanent security council?

I agree no leader has clean hands, but leaders can have clean morality, and at a stretch, intentions.

If Blair had rejected the plea of Bush, not only he would be the most celebrated PM in UK history, but also annoited for sainthood.

The special relationship cost him and his legacy dearly.
 
Technics 1210 said:
So riddle me this. How did China, and Russia, end up on the UN permanent security council?

I agree no leader has clean hands, but leaders can have clean morality, and at a stretch, intentions.

If Blair had rejected the plea of Bush, not only he would be the most celebrated PM in UK history, but also annoited for sainthood.

The special relationship cost him and his legacy dearly.
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USSR was on the UN Security Council since its inception, as was ROC. But then the Chinese Civil War broke out. ROC retreated to Taiwan. PRC was recognised by the UN General Assembly in 1971, replacing ROC on the UNSC.

Yes, that’s exactly what Blair should have done. Just as Wilson turned LBJ down regarding Viet Nam.
 
GLORY OF '92 said:
Yes Iraq was wrong but he done a lot of good also. Kosovo and modernising Britain are just 2 examples.
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Nah bro, come on, Iraq was pure evil, no amount of good can overdo that. This is why feelings still run strong among the public all these years later.
 
Kroll said:
Nah bro, come on, Iraq was pure evil, no amount of good can overdo that. This is why feelings still run strong among the public all these years later.
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Iraq is a case study for how a successful politician and respected statesman can undo everything else that he has achieved by making one colossal error in judgment.
 
Robert said:
USSR was on the UN Security Council since its inception, as was ROC. But then the Chinese Civil War broke out. ROC retreated to Taiwan. PRC was recognised by the UN General Assembly in 1971, replacing ROC on the UNSC.

Yes, that’s exactly what Blair should have done. Just as Wilson turned LBJ down regarding Viet Nam.
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I mean how comes 2 communist nations are permenant members of the UN security council?
 
Technics 1210 said:
So Basically, fear?
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Well…. In 1945 USA, UK and USSR had emerged on top of the ruins of Eurasia. ROC was the main power in the East. They were best placed to restore order after the cataclysm. Britain was running much of eastern and southern Africa. France was smashed, but I guess was closely allied to USA and UK for historical reasons and still had imperial influence in Africa and Indochine.

Those were also the first five countries to acquire nuclear weapons.
 
Blair was Bush's biggest international supporter in starting the Iraq War. It may be argued that if Blair had not supported Bush, the war would not have been started.

While it was a good thing that Saddam was deposed, the war was still started by lying to the public and resulted in hundreds of thousands dead.

I signed the petition.
 
Napa said:
Blair was Bush's biggest international supporter in starting the Iraq War. It may be argued that if Blair had not supported Bush, the war would not have been started.

While it was a good thing that Saddam was deposed, the war was still started by lying to the public and resulted in hundreds of thousands dead.

I signed the petition.
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Its worse, the man is a criminal.

Tony Blair’s defence secretary Geoff Hoon was 'told to burn' Iraq war memo
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https://www.msn.com/en-ae/news/worl...s?;ctype=news++&amp%252525253Bappid=hwbrowser

Over a million people have now signed the petition. It wont be taken away from him, meaning people will take knighthoods as a joke now, if they already arent.
 
KingKhanWC said:
It wont be taken away from him, meaning people will take knighthoods as a joke now, if they already arent.
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I think most people now view the UK honours system as a bit silly and antiquated, a way for public figures to receive a token gesture.

(I think I have posted this elsewhere) — I understand that many nations have an honours system, but I would back the old British state imperial honours system being scrapped: to be replaced by an award/medal system which is not tainted by colonialism, ignores celebrities, and is simply aimed at recognising members of the public for (eg) great community work and extraordinary personal acts.
 
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James said:
I think most people now view the UK honours system as a bit silly and antiquated, a way for public figures to receive a token gesture.

(I think I have posted this elsewhere) — I understand that many nations have an honours system, but I would back the old British state imperial honours system being scrapped: to be replaced by an award/medal system which is not tainted by colonialism, ignores celebrities, and is simply aimed at recognising members of the public for (eg) great community work and extraordinary personal acts.
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Totally agree.

UK has a large proportion of people who are kind, helping, tolerant and who sacrifice their own luxaries for others. The mirror pride of Britain awards are really inspirsing. Its a shame the establishment doesnt follow suit.
 
More than one million people have signed a petition calling for Sir Tony Blair to have his knighthood removed.

The former Labour prime minister, who was in office between 1997 and 2007, was appointed a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the New Year Honours list.

However, there has been opposition to the appointment due to Sir Tony's record while in 10 Downing Street, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
 
Whatever happens or doesn’t happen, this is certainly a resounding rejection of Blair both as a politician and as a man by the British people. He clearly no longer has a valid role to play in British public life and should quietly retire from view.
 
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Some of the biggest crooks, shysters, war criminals and charlatans have received knighthoods and various gongs under the British Honours System - so I'd suggest Tony Blair is actually well qualified to join the gang.

Even leaving aside the deceptive intelligence to justify the Iraq War which killed hundreds of thousands, which's a pretty aside, Blair's record post-Premiership alone justifies making him persona non grata.

In 2011 his consultancy firm, Tony Blair Associates, netted a multi-million pound deal to give PR advice to the regime of Kazakhstan (who are currently mowing down protesters in the street), just weeks after an "election" that gave their President 96% of the vote. He trousered millions in consultancy fees for Kuwait, UAE and other despotic Gulf regimes. So much for championing democracy.

He became the Middle East Peace Envoy (insert joke here) and Adviser to the Quartet to help reach a two state solution - but instead of even handed mediation he was a partisan cheerleader for Israel and did nothing for the conditions of Palestinians on the ground.

Coming back to Iraq - Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld were hellbent on removing Saddam regardless of Britain's involvement. Where Blair was a useful idiot for the Americans was he provided a figleaf of international respectability to the American War. Blair's support convinced many liberal, centrist minded voters to support the War. Whenever anti-war progressives vocalised their opposition, the neocons could always say "But a liberal British Govt supports us."

Blair could've looked to another Labour PM who was also pressurised to support a disasterous war by a US President from Texas. Despite the Americans literally propping up an overvalued British currency and Lyndon Johnson's bullying - Harold Wilson refused to even send a token force to Vietnam.
 
He is taking a battering on almost all sides of the press and for once I must applaud the Daily Mail for how they are reporting on this ( they have their biased reasons for doing so).

Its obvious that the award can't be rescinded but with the image of the Royal family being well and truly battered as a result of the Andrew incident the establishment have severely miscalculated the public backlash. However, bowing to a petition would be disastrous for them and set a precedent for the future

Could the establishment instead perhaps nudge Blair into not accepting? Perhaps a craftily worded statement around it being an honour and he is proud of his work done as PM, but the level of opposition to his award are regrettably distracting from the Queens Platinium Jubilee.

Its either that or HM dies and the whole thing gets scrapped.
 
<b>The Huffington Post

Labour Use Tony Blair In Election Video Marking 25 Years Since His Landslide Victory</b>

<I>The former party boss has been left out in the cold by previous leaders.</I>

Tony Blair has praised Keir Starmer for “setting Labour back on a winning path” in a video marking 25 years since his landslide election victory.

The former party boss, who has been left out in the cold by successive Labour leaders since leaving office in 2007, said it now had “a renewed sense of purpose and mission” ahead of Thursday’s local elections.

It is thought to be the first time Blair has appeared on an official Labour Party broadcast since quitting as leader.

In the two-minute video, he lists his government’s achievements, including the introduction of the minimum wage, tackling poverty, improving education standards, reducing NHS waiting lists and bringing peace to Northern Ireland.

Blair, who led Labour to three general election victories, said: “Today, just as in 1997, we have renewed leadership and a renewed sense of purpose and mission.

“Keir Starmer has shown strength, determination and intelligence in setting Labour back on a winning path.”

The video marks a significant shift in the party’s attitude towards its former leader after his successors Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn all sought to distance themselves from his legacy.

A Labour spokesperson said: “The 25th anniversary of the 1997 election victory is a timely reminder of what Labour can achieve in power.

“We are proud of those achievements. Tony Blair’s leadership serves as an inspiration for us, as we work to deliver a Labour government that tackles the challenges of the 2020s and beyond, with security, prosperity and respect for all.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/am...ection-broadcast_uk_626e4eeae4b0cca67556e32f/
 
It’s the 25th “Tony-versary” today.

25 years since Blair got elected.

Looks like the above cited video is another attempt by the former PM to rebuild his reputation. And Keir Starmer is allowing him to do so.

Blair should give up the ghost.

As per the OP: I don’t think he’s particularly popular, and there is no real appetite amongst the general public for him to make a comeback.
 
Our esteemed former PM - Tony The-War-Criminal Blair - is delighted to offer his expertise on Russia's military operation in Ukraine to the New York Times.

Who better to discuss the highlights of his war criminal career and dissect Putin's failure to live up to Western standards - in terms of war crimes, using extremists to destabilize communities and slaughter its citizens, using civilians as human shields, engaging in perpetual war and regime-changes, destroying multiple nations, setting alight entire regions and making huge profits from his enterprise - than the honourable war crimes expert Tony The-War-Criminal Blair?



https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/world/europe/tony-blair-russia-ukraine-event.html
 
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