1. Home
  2.  » 
  3. Behind The "News"
  4.  » 
  5. Current Affairs
  6.  » Huge Public Backlash to Tony Blair’s Knighthood

‘It makes a mockery of our sons’ deaths’: Military mothers describe Tony Blair’s knighthood as the ‘ultimate insult’ as more than 100,000 sign petition demanding for honour to be taken back from the former Prime Minister

  • Sir Tony has long faced a backlash over his decision to lead the UK into war in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003
  • It was announced on Friday night that he had been appointed to the Order of the Garter as a Knight Companion
  • All but one of the PMs before him were appointed a few years after leaving office, but he waited over 14 years
  • A Change.org petition set up against his knighthood has now reached 100,000 signatures 

Olivia Devereux-Evans and Tom Pyman – Daily Mail.com Jan 2022

In good company: the now notorious Jimmy Savile photographed with a younger Tony Blair.

Military mothers have described Tony Blair‘s knighthood as the ‘ultimate insult’ while social media users have branded the former-Prime Minister a war criminal and more than 100,000 signed a petition for his honour to be taken back.

The mothers, who lost their children in Afghanistan, have spoken out against Sir Tony’s knighthood and have threatened to return Elizabeth Crosses which are given to bereaved families to show their disgust.

One military mother, Carol Valentine, told the Mirror that Sir Tony’s knighthood is the ‘ultimate insult’, after her son Simon was killed while he cleared land mines in Afghanistan in 2009.

And Hazel Hunt, whose son Richard died in Afghanistan, was pondering sending back the Elizabeth Cross that her family had received as a mark of protest.

Another military mother, Caroline Whitaker, who lost son Gareth after he was shot dead by an Afghanistan police officer in 2012 said she felt the establishment was ‘making a mockery’ of hers and other children’s deaths.

On Twitter, many made their feelings clear following the ennobling. Political commentator Liam Young wrote: ‘The man should be in the dock of The Hague. What a shameful day.’

Another said: ‘The contempt in which Britain’s elite holds the public has never been more eloquently expressed than in the decision to award Tony Blair the highest order of knighthood. One million Iraqis dead, three million dispossessed, a trail of blood to 7/7. Rise Sir Tony!’

The appointment of Sir Tony in the Order of the Garter on Friday night also led to a petition being launched on Change.org by Angus Scott shortly after he was knighted which has now reached 100,000 signatures.

Furious members of the public have rallied against his appointment and signed the petition since Friday.

In an explanation in his petition, Mr Scott wrote: ‘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 servicement in various conflicts. For this alone he should be held accountable for war crimes.’

Backlash occurred as the ex-prime minister has faced criticism for many years for sending troops into Afghanistan and Iraq and many branded him a ‘war criminal’ who they did not believe worthy of a knighthood.

Continues …

Sign the petition here …