LONDON (RT) – Controversial former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II this week, sparking outrage from those who said he should be in prison for his involvement in the Iraq War instead.
Blair was knighted in the New Year Honours 2022 list, alongside Covid-19 response officials Chris Whitty and Jonathan Van-Tam. Blair received the Most Noble Order of the Garter – one of the most prestigious royal honors and the highest order of knighthood – and will now be able to use the title ‘Sir’.
Many people were disturbed by the announcement, with Blair remaining extremely controversial in the UK due to his involvement in the U.S. and UK invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Tony Blair knighted for services to imperialism. The man should be in the dock of The Hague. What a shameful day,” political commentator Liam Young tweeted, while writer and activist Femi Oluwole asked, “If I help create the next ISIS (Daesh) by destabilizing an entire region under false pretences, can I get a knighthood too?”
GB News presenter Tonia Buxton said she was “sickened” by the decision to knight Blair, who “caused the deaths of so many.” John Smith – the son of famous World War II veteran and writer Harry Leslie Smith – tweeted that by knighting Blair, “the Queen [is] saying it’s okay to kill brown people in their hundreds of thousands.”
The royal appointment has regularly been bestowed upon past British prime ministers, with John Major – Blair’s direct predecessor – the last to receive the title of “Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter,” referred to as the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry.
The former barrister then became a Middle East envoy -- with close ties with numerous despotic rulers across the Arab world -- and set up his own non-profit organization, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, after leaving politics.
Blair is one of three new appointments announced by the palace. Appointments to the Garter are in the Queen’s gift and made without prime ministerial advice. They are for life unless a Knight or Lady Companion offends against certain “points of reproach,” according to local press reports.