The honorary title recently granted by Queen Elizabeth II to the former Prime Minister Tony Blair has reopened old wounds in the United Kingdom. The appointment of the former Labor leader as Knight of the Order of the Garter, the highest decoration that the British Crown can bestow, has caused a visceral protest reaction against one of the main perpetrators of the Iraq war in 2003. In just four days, more than 600,000 people they had signed an ‘online’ petition demanding that the honor be withdrawn from someone who is accused of “being responsible for the death of countless civilians and soldiers” and for “war crimes for which they should be held accountable.” The expremier British lied to parliament when he forced his deputies to give the go-ahead to enter the war ensuring that the Iraqi dictator Sadam Housein possessed massive destruction weapons.
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the oldest and most important chivalric order in the United Kingdom. King Edward III founded it in 1348 and today the representatives of the European monarchies, including the king Felipe VI. It is also tradition that such a distinction falls to former British prime ministers. Sir Tony has been kept waiting 14 years by the queen since he left office. His predecessor, the conservative John Major, received the same honor in less than eight years. The passage of time has not cooled popular animosity against Blair. The decision of who is part of that group of 24 knights and ladies of the order is a personal and exclusive matter of the sovereign unlike other appointments in the annual list of honors of the Crown in which the proposals presented by the Current government.
Johnson’s silence
Boris Johnson has so far been quiet about the controversy. The current Labor leader, Keir Starmer (who also holds the title of sir from his previous work as a lawyer before entering politics), has stated that “Sir Tony” se “has won“ knighthood. Quite the opposite of what the petitioners think. “Tony Blair is the last person to deserve any public honor, particularly a reward from Her Majesty the Queen.” However, the protesters have very little chance of getting the British monarch to change his mind. The popular petition has also not been addressed to Parliament, so it will not be discussed in the House of Commons.
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