Mr Blair has long faced criticism for sending troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, a decision which culminated in a devastating report by Sir John Chilcot in 2016 which found he overplayed evidence about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.Ī total of 179 British Armed Forces personnel and Ministry of Defence civilians died serving during the Iraq campaign, while a further 457 were killed during deployment to Afghanistan. Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg said last year that petitions hosted on sites such as, as with Mr Blair on Friday, will not be considered for debate regardless of the number of signatures obtained. Under parliamentary procedure, petitions signed by 10,000 people receive a response from the Government, while those signed by more than 100,000 people are considered for debate in Parliament. However, the honour is unlikely to be debated by MPs as the petition was not created on the Parliament website. If the petition does reach the half million mark, it would become 'one of the top signed' on the website. On Monday evening, former UKIP leader Nigel Farage told MailOnline that the row over Sir Tony's knighthood added 'more pressure' on the beleaguered PM, who has faced intense criticism in recent weeks over the Downing Street party scandal and the rebellion by Tory MPs against coronavirus Plan B measures. 'We petition the Prime Minister to petition Her Majesty to have this honour removed.' The poll's creator, Angus Scott, said on the website that Sir Tony 'is the least deserving person of any public honour, particularly anything awarded by Her Majesty the Queen. However, the decision has been met with furious backlash with anti-war campaigners branding it a 'kick in the teeth' to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan and military mothers threatening to return Elizabeth Crosses, a form of recognition given to bereaved families, in disgust.Īlthough appointments to the Garter are a gift of the Queen and made without the PM's advice, a petition calling on Mr Johnson petition Her Majesty to rescind the knighthood has now been signed by nearly 500,000 people. Mr Blair, 68, was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter - the most senior form of knighthood that has been bestowed upon all bar one of his predecessors.
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