{"id":1196400,"date":"2022-01-07T09:34:59","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T14:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1196400"},"modified":"2022-01-07T09:35:08","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T14:35:08","slug":"petition-to-strip-tony-blairs-knighthood-nears-one-million-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/petition-to-strip-tony-blairs-knighthood-nears-one-million-signatures\/","title":{"rendered":"Petition to Strip Tony Blair&#039;s Knighthood Nears One Million Signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpetition-to-strip-tony-blairs-knighthood-nears-one-million-signatures%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1196400&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Tony-Blair-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/the-prime-minister-tony-blair-to-have-his-knight-companion-of-the-most-noble-order-of-the-garter-rescinded\">viral petition<\/a> to strip former Labour prime minister and Iraq War architect Tony Blair of his knighthood is closing in on one million signatures, and shows no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n<p>The 68-year-old\u2019s decision to plunge the country into war in search of what turned out to be highly elusive \u201cWeapons of Mass Destruction\u201d in 2003 famously brought<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=10153870520641939\"> a million citizens onto the streets to oppose him<\/a>&nbsp;in what was believed to be Britain\u2019s biggest-ever political demonstration \u2014 although \u2018people power\u2019 proved to be no obstacle to him getting his way then and may prove equally fruitless now, given the establishment\u2019s silence on the petition.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Blair, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/i-was-a-student-trotskyist-says-tony-blair-pvtv08fnr\">youthful admirer<\/a> of communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky \u2014 a key player in the Vladimir Lenin regime which assassinated his own country\u2019s monarch, his wife, and young children \u2014 was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the New Year Honours Lists, after a wait of almost 15 years following his departure from office.<\/p>\n<p>Insiders had long suggested that the Queen, who unlike with most honours has a personal say in who is appointed to the Garter, had been resisting appointing Blair to the order, as most ex-prime ministers have been.<\/p>\n<p>This has been attributed to the Labour grandee\u2019s behaviour following the death of Princess Diana \u2014 said to have particularly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/news\/royal\/1165616\/prince-philip-news-royal-family-queen-elizabeth-ii-furious-downing-street-tony-blair-spt\">infuriated<\/a> the Queen\u2019s late consort, Prince Philip \u2014 and indiscrete references to stays at the royals\u2019 Scottish retreat at Balmoral in his memoirs, which he described as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/hp\/front\/tony-blair-s-freaky-weekend-with-the-queen-at-balmoral-6508590.html\">\u201cfreaky\u201d and \u201csurreal\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Conservative commentators have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/calvinrobinson\/status\/1477316308391936007\">speculated<\/a>, however, that the Queen felt obliged to award the honour to Blair to maintain her official appearance of neutrality, and to ensure that other ex-prime ministers such as Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and Theresa May can be honoured in future without creating the appearance of partiality.<\/p>\n<p>It is perhaps telling that she did not make this decision until her husband\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Almost 1M, please sign and share. Petition \u00b7 Tony Blair to have his &#8220;Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter&#8221; rescinded \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WtzDECBFAG\">https:\/\/t.co\/WtzDECBFAG<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vYow5AeOTk\">https:\/\/t.co\/vYow5AeOTk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Right Said Fred (@TheFreds) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheFreds\/status\/1479178220029329408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Whatever the reasons for Blair\u2019s elevation, it has been nothing if not controversial among the general public, with left-leaning, right-leaning, and politically neutral activists and ordinary citizens coming together to condemn the man and his legacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was not just Iraq. He pioneered the nanny controlling state; he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/uknews\/law-and-order\/6418456\/Labour-wanted-mass-immigration-to-make-UK-more-multicultural-says-former-adviser.html\">opened the flood gates to immigration<\/a>; he set in train devolution; he buckled to a broken IRA; he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2008\/may\/12\/cashforhonours.tonyblair\">stuffed the [House of] Lords full of his cronies<\/a>; he broke the nation\u2019s finances,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/benhabib6\/status\/1477148198670155779\">commented<\/a> Ben Habib, a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Brexit Party, after news of the knighthood broke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was a disaster,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Blair has continued to court controversy up to the present day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2018\/11\/08\/blair-ill-do-everything-i-can-to-stop-brexit\/\">campaigning to reverse<\/a> Brexit and pushing for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/09\/19\/tony-blair-says-govt-should-vaccinate-nursery-age-children-and-impose-vax-passes\/\">vaccination of nursery-age children<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/07\/19\/treat-vaccinated-people-differently-to-avoid-quarantine-pingdemic-says-blair\/\">discrimination against the unvaccinated<\/a>, who he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2021\/12\/23\/delingpole-if-you-dont-get-vaxxed-youre-an-idiot-says-satans-envoy-blair\/\">branded \u201cidiots\u201d<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n<p>As of the time of publication, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/the-prime-minister-tony-blair-to-have-his-knight-companion-of-the-most-noble-order-of-the-garter-rescinded\">Change.org petition<\/a> to strip his knighthood for causing \u201cirreparable damage to both the constitution of the United Kingdom and to the very fabric of the nation\u2019s society\u201d and alleged \u201cwar crimes\u201d stood at 980,000 and rising.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tony Blair: &#8216;Our Teams Are Embedded in Governments Around the World&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IlnE1mvxhq\">https:\/\/t.co\/IlnE1mvxhq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1259473262125346816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 10, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h5 class=\"western\"><em><span>Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter:<\/span><\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackBMontgomery\"><span>@JackBM<\/span><\/a><\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackBMontgomery\"><span>ontgomery<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n<h5 class=\"western\"><em><span>Follow Breitbart London on Facebook:<\/span><\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BreitbartLondon\/\"><span>Breitbart London<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A viral petition to strip former Labour prime minister and Iraq War architect Tony Blair of his knighthood is closing in on one million signatures, and shows no signs of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1196400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1196400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1196400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1196400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1196400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}