LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair should be stripped of his knighthood over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a prominent Scottish politician has said.
Neale Hanvey, the Alba Party’s leader in Westminster, told the House of Commons that declassified documents revealed that Sir Tony was keen to confront Saddam Hussein’s regime 5 years before the invasion of Iraq.
Hanvey said these declassified documents show Blair was determined to take military action against Saddam Hussein in 1998 against explicit advice and in the absence of sound legal arguments or justification.
He added that how can it be that a prime minister who prosecuted two wars against lawful advice and instruction has been rewarded with a knighthood? This is an insult to every single life lost and it should be withdrawn forthwith and a path to full justice secured.
He also accused Tony Blair of having misled Parliament in order to get support for the Iraq invasion.
Hanvey said that these documents reveal Tony Blair dismissed legal objections to his 1998 bombing campaign — this was a direct precursor to his stance over the invasion of Iraq 5 years later in 2003 which also was deemed illegal by (then) United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Tony Blair ignores legal advice twice
Hanvey said that in both instances in 1998 and in 2003 we know Tony Blair received legal advice warning that military action was illegal and, in both instances, he ignored that legal advice and went on to authorize the deployment of British forces.
He said that Tony Blair misled Parliament by claiming that a legal basis for military force without a UNSC resolution existed, when in fact it did not.
The consequences have been devastating for Iraqi people, for the region and for soldiers and their families.
