Over 500,00 sign petition to block Tony Blair receiving a knighthood
MORE than 500,000 Brits have signed a petition to block ex-PM Tony Blair’s knighthood.
The Queen last week personally made the ex-Labour PM a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter - meaning he's now called Sir Tony.
But critics are calling for the PM to get involved with the Monarch's decision, branding Blair a "war criminal" for leading the UK into conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unlike other New Year's gongs, Sir Tony's appointment was made entirely by the monarch with no input from Downing Street.
Angus Scott, who launched the online petition on Change.org, wrote: "[Tony Blair is] the least deserving person of any public honour, particularly anything awarded by Her Majesty the Queen.
"We petition the prime minister to petition Her Majesty to have this honour removed.
"Tony Blair caused irreparable damage to both the constitution of the United Kingdom and to the very fabric of the nation's society.
"He was personally responsible for causing the death of countless innocent, civilian lives and servicemen in various conflicts.
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"For this alone he should be held accountable for war crimes."
But Mr Scott's petition is unlikely to be debated by MP's because it was not launched on the parliament website.
Official petitions signed by more than 100,000 people on the site are considered for debate.
Sir Tony, 68, held office from 1997 to 2007 after winning three landslide elections and dragging Labour out of the political wilderness.
But his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 earned him an army of critics that for many is his lasting legacy.
After quitting politics the former barrister became a Middle East envoy and set up his own non-for-profit group, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
The organisation supports "governments to deliver effectively for their people, working for peace in the Middle East and countering extremism".
More recently he's repeatedly waded into the Covid debate to call for increased testing and vaccine capacity.
His appointment takes the total Knights of the Garter to 21 out of a maximum 24.
All but one of the PMs before him were honoured a few years after leaving office - but he waited over 14 years.
A decade after he relinquished his role as PM, Blair announced a political comeback, saying he was motivated by Brexit.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer today dismissed criticism of Sir Tony's knighthood.
He insisted the honour is not a "thorny" issue and that Sir Tony had been a "very successful prime minister".
The award could clear the way for Sir Tony's successors in No 10 to be given similar honours, following reports that the delay in granting the accolade was blocking the others.
Sir Keir told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "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 in this country."
Meanwhile, vaccines minister Maggie Throup told LBC: "I think he did lots of good things.
"And I think it's only right that we do honour our previous prime ministers. And he was prime minister for such a long time."
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In a hint that Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May could be in line for honours, she said: "I think obviously it now opens the doors for others to be recognised in the same way."
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has suggested that all former prime ministers should be offered a knighthood because "it is one of the toughest jobs in the world".
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