It's that man again....

https://www.change.org/p/the-prime-minister-tony-blair-to-have-his-knight-companion-of-the-most-noble-order-of-the-garter-rescinded?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=8f6f60e0-6b11-11ec-b5c3-859555617f1b&share_bandit_exp=initial-31890838-en-US 

Tony it seems has been clogging up the honours system.  Since he hasn't got Knight of the Garter neither can any PM after have it so the Queen has given it to him.  

Rumours suggest that it's more to do with his behaviour over the death of Diana than the Iraq War but who really knows...?  The 7 year wait for the Chilcot Report to come out may have delayed things... it concluded...

Intervention might have become necessary later, but at the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein did not pose an immediate threat and the majority of the UN Security Council supported the continuation of UN weapons inspections and monitoring

...which puts Mr Blair at odds with violation of Nurenberg Principle VI i

The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:

(a) Crimes against peace:

(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;

(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i)

Fortunately this principle is not enshrined in domestic law so Mr Blair couldn't be prosecuted in the UK.  Neither could the ICC prosecute him as it didn't have a definition of "waging of a war of aggression" at the time of the Iraq War and now it has one it cannot apply it retroactively.  So Mr Blair slithered through all the legislative loopholes to be knighted another day...

Sir Keir Starmer assures us that Mr Blair deserves a knighthood and Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “Whatever people might think, it is one of the toughest jobs in the world, and I think it is respectful and it is the right thing to do, whether it is to Tony Blair or to David Cameron.  They should all be offered that knighthood when they finish as prime minister.  If you have been prime minister of this country, I do believe the country should recognise the service given."

So the "establishment" thinks.  No matter what you do you deserve a knighthood just for turning up.  Or as Norman Baker once observed such things just "come up with the rations"...

As of this evening the petition is heading towards 300,000...

This is a change.org petition as the pre-emptive petitions to stave off Blair's knighthood have all been struck off the government website as this is an issue involving the Crown and so not worthy of debate by mere Members of Parliament.  If MPs started deciding who should have gongs and go in the Lords...