LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair should be stripped of his knighthood over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a leading Scottish politician has said.
Neale Hanvey, the Alba Party’s leader in Westminster, told the House of Commons that declassified documents show that Sir Tony was keen to confront Saddam Hussein’s regime five years before the invasion of Iraq.
Hanvey said: “These declassified documents show Tony 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: “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“This is an insult to every single life lost and it should be withdrawn forthwith and a path to full justice secured.”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 Sir Tony of having misled Parliament in order to secure support for the Iraq invasion.
“These documents show Tony Blair dismissed legal objections to his 1998 bombing campaign — this was a direct precursor to his stance over the invasion of Iraq five years later in 2003 which also was deemed illegal by (then) UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan,” Hanvey said.
“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 service personnel.
“Blair misled Parliament by claiming that a legal basis for military force without a UN Security Council resolution existed, when in fact it did not.
“The consequences have been devastating for Iraqis, for the region and for military personnel and their families.”
Solicitor-General Robert Courts dismissed Hanvey’s remarks, saying: “These are historic matters. They have been … subject to exhaustive and detailed examination in other places. (Hanvey) will of course know that.”
Courts added: “These were matters for many administrations ago and not one that this government can comment on.”
Karl Turner, Labour’s shadow solicitor-general, called for “maximum transparency wherever that is possible,” but noted that “what motivated much of the action we saw during this period in history was not the desire for regime change in Baghdad, but a compulsion … not to repeat the grave mistakes of Bosnia and Rwanda.”
In 2016, Sir Tony said: “I did not mislead this country. I made the decision in good faith and I believe it is better we took that decision. I acknowledge the mistakes and accept responsibility for them. What I cannot and will not do is say we took the wrong decision.”
