Sir Tony Blair should be stripped of his knighthood as a result of his decision to take the UK to war in Iraq, British MPs have heard.
The Alba Party’s Neale Hanvey described the former British prime minister’s accolade as “an insult to every single life lost” during the war.
Mr Hanvey claimed declassified documents from 1998 show Mr Blair was determined to take military action, contrary to legal advice.
Speaking during a debate on UK military action in Iraq, Mr Hanvey said: “How can it be that a prime minister who prosecuted two wars against lawful advice and instruction has been rewarded with a knighthood?
“This is an insult to every single life lost and it should be withdrawn forthwith and a path to full justice secured.
“Governments should not lie to go to war and the truth must now be told.”
The MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath accused the former Labour leader of misleading the British parliament and said the consequences were “devastating for Iraqis”.
He said: “These declassified documents show Tony Blair was determined to take military action against Saddam Hussein in 1998 against explicit advice and in the absence of sound legal arguments or justification.
“These documents show Tony Blair dismissed legal objections to his 1998 bombing campaign, this was a direct precursor to his stance over the invasion of Iraq five years later in 2003 which also was deemed illegal by (then) UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.”
He added: “In both instances in 1998 and in 2003 we know Tony Blair received legal advice warning that military action was illegal and in both instances he ignored that legal advice and went on to authorise the deployment of British service personnel.
“Blair pressed officials, in particular the attorney general, to provide legal justification for the use of force. He received none, but he did it anyway.
“Blair misled Parliament by claiming that a legal basis for military force, without a UN Security Council resolution existed, when in fact it did not.
“The consequences have been devastating for Iraqis, for the region and for military personnel and their families. Lives lost in the theatre of war are well understood, but the lives wrecked by the trauma of conflict are less easily quantified and yet every bit as real.”
