When you hear the name Tony Blair, what comes to mind?
For the majority of the British public, it鈥檚 war criminal, the Iraq War and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians that died and are still dying 鈥 as a result of Britain鈥檚 involvement in the war.
Yet, draped in robes, gold and a plumed hat, Blair will be given the red-carpet treatment and granted the highest honour the Queen can bestow, a Knighthood, on June 13. That鈥檚 why , outside Windsor Castle to remind Blair he can never wash the blood off his hands.
The British public has not forgotten the Iraq War, proven by the fact 1.2 million people signed a earlier this year to stop the royal process in its tracks.
Blair wanted to go to war and didn鈥檛 let facts stand in his way. So desperate to please the United States, he actively lied over and over again, to bang the drums of war.
Under the false pretence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and fuelled by false revelations that they could be deployed in just 45 minutes, British troops headed to Iraq.
Those lies provoked the largest demonstration in British history. Millions marched against Britain鈥檚 involvement in the Iraq war. But when Blair ignored the people on the streets, he taught us that the political establishment has an extraordinary ability to try and silence truth.
Despite the disastrous legacy of Blair鈥檚 foreign policy few lessons have been learnt. Blair is to be knighted by the Queen with the highest honour. Clearly the British honours system is anything but honourable.
Mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan wrote begging the Queen to rescind the knighthood. One said:聽鈥淥ur misery is compounded knowing that the man responsible is being honoured.鈥
Responding to the levels of anger, Blair said: 鈥淭he best thing is just to accept that of course there will be people who strongly oppose it and detest me for various reasons, and this is just what happens in politics.鈥
Waging war is not 鈥渏ust鈥 what happens in politics. Serving the US war machine is not 鈥渏ust鈥 what happens in politics. And, lying to the public is not 鈥渏ust鈥 what happens in politics either.
Now in 2022, Britain has another lying PM keen to promote war, this time in Ukraine, in his Churchillian guise to keep himself in office and in the US President鈥檚 good books. Despite Blair鈥檚 notorious and deadly foreign policy, history is being repeated.
Blair has never apologised nor sought absolution for these crimes, not even after the Chilcot Inquiry that confirmed he is a pathological liar. With no accountability it is easy to see why a YouGov survey published earlier this year, found that 63% of Brits disapproved of his knighthood.
Usually as time passes, the more forgiving the public tends to be of former leaders. In Blair鈥檚 case, this couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth. Blair can walk no street, speak at no event, nor be awarded any accolade without the anti-war movement following and haunting him. Fifteen years after leaving office, Blair is still one of the most detested PMs in British history.
Our movement acts as a constant reminder that Britain says 鈥渘ot in my name鈥 to foreign war. , and let the world know there is only one court that Blair should be attending, and it鈥檚 not the royal one.
[Abridged from .]