More than 990,000 people have now signed a petition requesting that Tony Blair be kicked out of the Order of the Garter less than a week after his appointment was announced. The charge against him is that Sir Tony, as he now has the right to be called, is not fit to receive a “public honour” because he woefully misled Parliament and the public in stating his case for war in 2003, and his decisions resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Britons and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
We agree that the case against Blair is overwhelming. Despite that – or rather, because of it – it is fitting that he should be a member of the Order of the Garter.
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the oldest and most senior order of chivalry for England, Scotland and Wales, founded by King Edward III of England in 1348. Edward is best known for starting one of the most disastrous conflicts of the Middle Ages, the Hundred Years’ War, in his efforts to claim the throne of France. Under his command, English soldiers exacerbated the terrible suffering of the French peasantry, killing everyone and pillaging many villages and towns on their way.
