Senior figures from Labour and the Scottish National party are considering calls for legal action against Tony Blair if the former prime minister faces severe criticisms from the long-awaited inquiry into the war in Iraq.
A number of MPs led by Alex Salmond are expected to use an ancient law to try to impeach the former prime minister when the Chilcot report comes out on Wednesday.
The law, last used in 1806 when the Tory minister Lord Melville was charged for misappropriating official funds, is seen in Westminster as an alternative form of punishment that could ensure Blair never holds office again.
Triggering the process simply requires an MP to propose a motion and provide supporting evidence as part of a document called the article of impeachment which has no time limit placed upon it. If the impeachment attempt is approved by MPs, the defendant is delivered to Black Rod before a trial.
A simple majority is required to convict, at which point a sentence can be passed which could, in theory, involve Blair being sent to prison. However, MPs have said the attempt will be symbolic and is unlikely to result in imprisonment.
So it really would only be a symbolic gesture, but still a hell of a lot better than what we have done over here in response to learning that the Bush administration lied us into a war that saw the deaths of thousands of American servicemen.
At least the Brits have the balls to continue to search for the truth, while in America everybody just wants to move on and pretend that the former administration was not involved in treasonous activities and war crimes.
I would also like war crimes charged on Dubya and the dick but it will never happen.
ReplyDeleteAmerican deaths are one thing but what about the deaths of all those Iraqis? The numbers of fatalities range from hundreds of thousands one million. The Bush Administration and its warmonger friends are responsible for all of it.
ReplyDeleteBush and Cheney should have been hung from the rafters. I still think to this day that Cheney ran the show (war) and Bush followed his lead and direction! Cheney is as evil as they come!
DeleteAnonymous12:13 PM,
Delete"Bush and Cheney should have been hung from the rafters." The people who voted for them or didn't vote for Al Gore bear some responsibility.
I agree, when Rep John Conyers tried to hold an impeachment hearing for Bush, the gop force him to hold it in the basement instead of the room it's normally held in. Then Nancy Pelosi made history by being the first Female Speaker of the house, she make it clear, Impeachment was off the table.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 11:41 AM
Delete''Nancy Pelosi made history by being the first Female Speaker of the house, she make it clear, Impeachment was off the table.''
Yeah, I remember when she did that. I was so disgusted with her. I don't care for her, she is too damn soft on Repub. With Dems like her, this why Repub are in power in the Congress.
I remember her coming to the defense of Bush when the president of El Salvador said something about Bush, BUT has NEVER come to the defense of President Obama.
I have always wondered why Pelosi has never come out in defense of President Obama too. She sure did protect Bush - a Republican! She's another lousy politician - both parties are loaded with them and we view them every day.
DeleteDon't you guys remember why she said charges of war crimes were off the table? She would be convicted too because she was the leader of the House. She would face prosecution by the very vindictive Repubes.
Delete"while in America everybody just wants to move on and pretend"
ReplyDeleteand by everybody that means our POTUS as well, no?
Perhaps you might want to take a trip down Memory Lane about the mess President Obama had dumped at his feet, along with an obstinate Congress hell bent on seeing him fail. A crash course in civics would also serve you well.
DeleteI must admit that the day BHO was elected I cried. 'Finally' I thought. But when he didn't drop a cargo net over the whole Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld cabal at the inauguration and tea-bag dunk the lot of them in the Washington monument reflecting pool on their way to Gitmo, I knew the fix was in. He was there to take the flack while real criminals retire in luxury. Same with the Wall street crooks. Solid evidence and no convictions. I sense a pattern.
Delete♎
1:00 PM - agreed. I don't remember what occasion, but all living presidents in a line and President Obama shook Dubya's hand. I readily admit I was pissed; I sure wouldn't have.
DeleteThat being said, none of us know what truly goes on being POTUS and I will sorely miss him when he's gone. The best of my lifetime.
Yea, and then America has the likes of a Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders and is doing nothing to bring either one of them down!
ReplyDeleteAmerica is in for big trouble if Hillary Clinton isn't elected! Thank God we've had President Obama and VP Biden in place for two years...they are going to be very difficult to replace!
And this is why I wonder sometimes if my vote even counts anymore. Big money changing hands, Diebold fraud, gerrymandering, etc.
DeleteThen I remember 2012, and Karl Rove swearing up and down Ohio was going Rmoney as the screen flashed behind him that President Obama had won.
Your vote DOES count. Get out there and do it!
I'm a Brit, and I remember vividly when Blair came to power in the mid 90s. He was an odious, lying, opportunistic sack of shit from Day One. I tried to warn my friends, but he was widely seen as a warm, cuddly milquetoast who rode the "Cool Brittania" wave. He absolutely deserves to be called to the carpet for pretty much everything he did as PM, and Britons need to have a serious talk with themselves about their leadership in all parties. The current Brexit mess is just one example of that country's dangerous habit of handing power to unscrupulous idiots.
ReplyDeleteHe visited Australia a few years before he came to power- oddly enough I recall a photograph of him at a cosy meeting with conservatives. I've never liked him.
DeleteAnd speaking of unscrupulous, I see Farage has now joined Cameron and Johnson in running for cover... all you can see of their retreating backs is the broad yellow stripe.
Anon at 3:30 pm. It looks like all the party leaders are fleeing the Brexit mess they made.
DeleteBeaglemom
think the word should be 'terms' vs 'years' in the 11:58 AM comment!
ReplyDeleteNot everybody wanted to forget. It was your beloved idol who said, "We need to look forward; not back." That also seems to have covered the criminals of Wall Street who not only went unprosecuted but became wealthier than ever.
ReplyDeleteThat is what was said when he first took office - when he was idealistic and had no real clue what Bush and Cheney had actually done as to the war!
DeleteI'll bet, if he had it to do all over again, and knowing what he knows now, that he might have approached it differently! It's all hindsight now!
He's been an outstanding POTUS in spite of the constant obstruction by the Republicans. I'm very proud of him and the job he has done!
What I don't understand is idyuts talking about Hillary using an email server when Bush lied us into a war that created the current state of terrorism in the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteDarth Cheyney, Shrub, Condo leaser Rice and others should go first. How many innocent civilians died? Were tortured?, and how many yellow cake lies and exposing people like Valerie Plume went on and who ordered it?
ReplyDeleteHad he known then what he knows now, President Obama's first move would have been congressional meetings and articles of impeachment for starting two illegal wars. Eight years of Congressional blocking of anything Obama tried to pass, and he STILL outsmarted them all.
I agree, Tony Blair can go to the end of the line.
DeleteI was so disappointed when Pelosi and then Obama wanted to move forward. The Bush/Cheney administration was the most un-American in my lifetime. And if we don't learn from it, we'll repeat it. It was never about them. It is about us. Trump will be easily manipulated, just like George W. was.
ReplyDeleteOh the Iraq War was the half of it for the Bush administration. The 911 Truth movement still has steam and continues to piece things together!
ReplyDeleteAmerica's first war crime was working with Britain to institute the country of Israel and finance them indefinitely while as all they do is terrorize their neighboring countries.
ReplyDeleteThen we got together and destabilized the Muslims and now we have a fuck ton of issues in the middle east that it is probably time for all sane countries to step away from and let them find their own way.
Bush/Cheney will never be put on trial because according to the Republicans, Obama started the war and was also responsible for 9/11 because he is a Muslim Kenyan.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what they would impeach Blair of; he's no longer in office.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom