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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Blair knighthood

383 replies

Mummyrowland · 03/01/2022 02:54

Nearly half a million people have signed a petition over his knighthood in 48 hours.

It should be removed and he shouldn't be awarded it.

After all what did he do that was good?

What about all the squaddies he sent to their deaths over the supposed wmds?

High ranking members of the armed forces are threatening resignation if his award isn't reconsider

OP posts:
Pazuzu · 04/01/2022 13:42

When even the Guardian aren't opening up the article to comments you know something isn't quite right.

Where to even start? A lying warmongering tax avoider? How about that?

Yet another privately educated multi millionaire Labour hypocrite.

SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 13:51

And a more important point in a way is now, if the whole thing happened again today, and the UK was "asked" by the USA to support it in a military engagement, would the UK gov in a post Brexit world, decide on the merits, or simply decide on the necessity to preserve our so-called "special relationship".

Because post -Brexit, the latter is not only more likely, but virtually inevitable.

If we weren't able to support France against the US when we were part of the EU, what chance do we have of doing that now?

Thoosa · 04/01/2022 14:17

Haven’t RTFT but YouGov are running a poll on his Knighthood showed f anyone cares to vote.

Cantfindausernamethatsnottaken · 04/01/2022 14:21

He is a war criminal.Innocent soldiers and Iraqi civilians died.Dr David Kellys death was also very suspicious.He has caused untold problems in the middle east and for us in the west.He should be in prison,not knighted.

madisonbridges · 04/01/2022 14:35

@SlamCrump

And a more important point in a way is now, if the whole thing happened again today, and the UK was "asked" by the USA to support it in a military engagement, would the UK gov in a post Brexit world, decide on the merits, or simply decide on the necessity to preserve our so-called "special relationship".

Because post -Brexit, the latter is not only more likely, but virtually inevitable.

If we weren't able to support France against the US when we were part of the EU, what chance do we have of doing that now?

According to you we were already doing this before Brexit so how has Brexit changed anything? To make it more likely? We alreasy supported the US in a war that had no credible evidence to support it so the UK created some. That's the lowest we can go. Nothing to do with Brexit.
SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 14:40

According to you we were already doing this before Brexit so how has Brexit changed anything? To make it more likely? We alreasy supported the US in a war that had no credible evidence to support it so the UK created some. That's the lowest we can go. Nothing to do with Brexit

Er, my point is that Brexit has made it more likely that we will have to side with the USA in future. Because we won't have the same level of support from the EU.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 04/01/2022 14:41

Someone will always try to find a way to blame anything bad that has ever happened in the history of the universe on brexit.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 04/01/2022 14:42

@SlamCrump

According to you we were already doing this before Brexit so how has Brexit changed anything? To make it more likely? We alreasy supported the US in a war that had no credible evidence to support it so the UK created some. That's the lowest we can go. Nothing to do with Brexit

Er, my point is that Brexit has made it more likely that we will have to side with the USA in future. Because we won't have the same level of support from the EU.

That makes no logical sense based on history, does it?
SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 14:44

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Someone will always try to find a way to blame anything bad that has ever happened in the history of the universe on brexit.
If you think that future international diplomacy will not be affected by Brexit, you must be living in cloud cuckoo land frankly!
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 04/01/2022 14:48

If you think that future international diplomacy will not be affected by Brexit, you must be living in cloud cuckoo land frankly!

Yeah, I must be as deluded as people who attribute things to posters that they didn't say.

If EU membership provided some kind of "shield" against us having to get involved in the USA's stupid adventures, why didn't that work for Iraq when we were in the EU and had a pro-EU leadership?
Your "logic" makes no sense.

SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 14:49

That makes no logical sense based on history, does it?

Do I have to spelt it out? The UK is now more financially dependent on the USA than ever before.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 04/01/2022 14:59

@SlamCrump

That makes no logical sense based on history, does it?

Do I have to spelt it out? The UK is now more financially dependent on the USA than ever before.

But when according to you were less financially dependent on the USA we engaged in their stupid and illegal war anyway - so we can't get any more likely to do that - we did it when were in the EU.

Whether we follow the USA into any more stupid and illegal wars depends on a range of issues, so it hasn't automatically been made more likely by brexit just because you don't like brexit.

What happens will depend on how much of a cadre of deluded warmongers is installed in Washington and London at least as much as it does on brexit - because as history shows, having the "support" of the EU didn't stop us last time.

SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 15:04

Your "logic" makes no sense.

It is more than clear that I am talking about future diplomacy.

The UK leaving the EU is not exactly going to free us of our "obligations" to the US is it? By being economically more dependent on them via trade deals etc, it is going to put us in a more difficult position diplomatically if we want to opt out of supporting them in a military venture.

I am not talking about the past. I am speculating about the changed diplomatic landscape.

madisonbridges · 04/01/2022 15:06

@SlamCrump

According to you we were already doing this before Brexit so how has Brexit changed anything? To make it more likely? We alreasy supported the US in a war that had no credible evidence to support it so the UK created some. That's the lowest we can go. Nothing to do with Brexit

Er, my point is that Brexit has made it more likely that we will have to side with the USA in future. Because we won't have the same level of support from the EU.

How can it make it more likely in the future when we were already doing it in the past? Blair already took us to rock bottom. I didn't even vote for Brexit but the obsession with bringing it into every past event is ridiculous. Blair took us into a war on false evidence which resulted in the deaths of 100,000s of deaths. Your response is to not to hold Tony Blair accountable but to condemn Brexit. It's the usual tactic but I'm taken aback that I'm surprised. I just thought you were a good debater and then you throw that into the ring. Ugh.
NewYearNewMeFeckthatshit · 04/01/2022 15:13

I see the Brexit voting Tories are out in force on this thread. Probably far too young to remember the Thatcher years, sadly. Hmm

SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 15:13

How can it make it more likely in the future when we were already doing it in the past? Blair already took us to rock bottom. I didn't even vote for Brexit but the obsession with bringing it into every past event is ridiculous. Blair took us into a war on false evidence which resulted in the deaths of 100,000s of deaths. Your response is to not to hold Tony Blair accountable but to condemn Brexit. It's the usual tactic but I'm taken aback that I'm surprised. I just thought you were a good debater and then you throw that into the ring. Ugh.

Happily I am not too bothered about your opinion of my debating skills, nor am I interested in making this debate a personal one.

Personally I would say the obsession with covering up the negative effects of Brexit, such as the attendant loss of UK diplomatic influence and soft power, is hugely disappointing but we will have to agree to differ on that point.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 04/01/2022 15:21

@NewYearNewMeFeckthatshit

I see the Brexit voting Tories are out in force on this thread. Probably far too young to remember the Thatcher years, sadly. Hmm
I dunno if you mean me - but for the record I am old enough to remember (and loathe) the Thatcher years (I will be 60 this year). I have never voted Tory in my life and don't expect to start now.

Brexit isn't to blame for everything.

We haven't had a "special relationship" with the USA for ages - it's always been one-way traffic. They didn't help us over the Falklands (which was Thatcher's war that could have been avoided if she hadn't been such a warmonger).
We had no reason to go to Iraq on the coat tails of the USA's illegal war.
We won't have any more reason to follow them into any future similarly stupid escapades.

madisonbridges · 04/01/2022 15:22

Personally I would say the obsession with covering up the negative effects of Brexit, such as the attendant loss of UK diplomatic influence and soft power, is hugely disappointing but we will have to agree to differ on that point.

I didn't vote for Brexit. I don't think we're better off for Brexit. But the obsession with bringing it into every situation is ridiculous. It devalues critical thought of past events. But then you've already excused Blair from falsifying evidence by saying "Well that's politics". I guess you're going to excuse Johnson for giving contracts to friends with the same shrug too.

SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 15:29

I didn't vote for Brexit. I don't think we're better off for Brexit. But the obsession with bringing it into every situation is ridiculous. It devalues critical thought of past events. But then you've already excused Blair from falsifying evidence by saying "Well that's politics". I guess you're going to excuse Johnson for giving contracts to friends with the same shrug too.

Absolutely not. Detest Johnson and his chumocracy. But by all means, do please keep putting words in to my mouth. Hmm

madisonbridges · 04/01/2022 15:30

@NewYearNewMeFeckthatshit

I see the Brexit voting Tories are out in force on this thread. Probably far too young to remember the Thatcher years, sadly. Hmm
Someone's critical of Blair so they must be a Brexit voting Tory in their thirties! That's so typical of debate on here. Some of us are capable of supporting political parties whilst not being blind to actions they've taken. And for your info I remember the Heath and Wilson years too. None of any of the govts I have lived under could lessen my disdain for what Tony Blair did to get us into war.
madisonbridges · 04/01/2022 15:33

@SlamCrump

I didn't vote for Brexit. I don't think we're better off for Brexit. But the obsession with bringing it into every situation is ridiculous. It devalues critical thought of past events. But then you've already excused Blair from falsifying evidence by saying "Well that's politics". I guess you're going to excuse Johnson for giving contracts to friends with the same shrug too.

Absolutely not. Detest Johnson and his chumocracy. But by all means, do please keep putting words in to my mouth. Hmm

So you excuse Blair for a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives because it was tough for him and politics is dirty. But you condemn Johnson for giving contracts that were intended to save lives. Where's your sympathy for him over tough decisions? So hypocritical.
RallySooney · 04/01/2022 15:34

@silentpool

He should be in jail.
This.
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 04/01/2022 15:37

Someone's critical of Blair so they must be a Brexit voting Tory in their thirties! That's so typical of debate on here.
Isn't it just - binary thinking of the worst kind.

Doomscrolling · 04/01/2022 15:44

But you condemn Johnson for giving contracts that were intended to save lives

Precisely. Johnson gave contracts to cronies for billions, when they were entirely unable to fulfil those contracts - PPE, track and trace etc etc - costing thousands of lives because feathering Tory chums’ nests mattered more than actually taking action in a pandemic.

SlamCrump · 04/01/2022 15:48

So you excuse Blair for a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives because it was tough for him and politics is dirty. But you condemn Johnson for giving contracts that were intended to save lives. Where's your sympathy for him over tough decisions? So hypocritical.

Please just stop making things up now.

I very clearly said that Blair's decision to go to war was morally wrong. I also said that it was a very difficult decision and the realities of international politics are bruisingly hard.

I also said I detested Boris and his chums.

Those two views have nothing to do with one another.

That is all.