Tony Blair knighthood: military veterans call for honour to be rescinded

The Northern Ireland Veterans’ Movement (NIVM) said the Most Noble Order of the Garter conferred on Mr Blair in the New Year Honours “provoked a massive outcry” from veterans.

NIVM spokesman Paul Young said the actions of Mr Blair while in office have led to former soldiers being placed before courts in Northern Ireland while terrorists enjoy “immunity from prosecution”.

He said: “Tony Blair is the architect of the Good Friday Agreement and the legislation which resulted in terrorists being released from prison, being issued ‘letters of comfort’ and Royal Pardons on an industrial scale whilst at the same time deliberately excluding any protection to our armed forces who served in Northern Ireland.

“This man is detested by the United Kingdom veteran community because of his deliberate actions in the continued appeasement [of the republican movement] has led to the situation where many years after the signing of the GFA and his leaving office our veterans are taking the full force of the republican lawfare to change the narrative of the bloody conflict of Northern Ireland.”

A petition launched at www.change.org on January 1 is also calling for the knighthood to be rescinded.

By Tuesday afternoon more 600,000 people had signed the online call for the current prime minister “to petition Her Majesty to have this honour removed”.

It states: “Tony Blair is the least deserving person of any public honour, particularly anything awarded by Her Majesty the Queen.”

Mr Young of NIVM said: “It is a huge insult to the relatives of those that have perished at the hands of terrorism that this despicable man is now being awarded the highest awards that our country can bestow on one of its citizens.

“It is a huge insult to the family of Dennis Hutchings who spent the last years of his life fighting to clear his name and died during his trial within a Northern Ireland Justice system that is completely unfit for purpose as a direct result of Tony Blair’s appeasement policies.”

Mr Young added: “So great is the outrage at this award that a national Change.Org petition has been raised and is going viral. I would urge those that oppose this appalling award to sign the petition at www.change.org”.

Speaking on the Good Morning Britain television programme on Tuesday, current Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer defended the knighthood, highlighting Mr Blair’s “work in Northern Ireland and the peace process” as the main reason he deserved the award.

“So I don’t think it’s thorny at all,” Mr Starmer added.

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