A Parliamentary petition which calls on the House of Commons to hold former Prime Minister Tony Blair to account for misleading statements he made in the run up to the war in Iraq has passed its first significant milestone this week.

The petition has now received the support of more than 10,000 signatories, which requires the UK Government to make an official reply.

The petition, which is also backed by a cross-party group of MPs, including Isles SNP MP Angus MacNeil, states:

“The Chilcot Report has presented a range of evidence that demonstrates that Parliament and the country were misled by Tony Blair in the run up to the war in Iraq. Parliament should now agree a process by which it can hold the former Prime Minister to account.”

The petition can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/159996

 

Angus MacNeil MP, one of the cross-party group which has also backed a call for Parliament to vote on a motion of contempt relating to Tony Blair’s conduct, said:

“This is a significant milestone for this parliamentary petition. Now it has received ten thousand signatories the UK Government is required to make a formal response on the issue.

“The next step is to press for one hundred thousand supporters, which would lead to a parliamentary debate on the topic.

“In the meantime, I’ll continue to work with MPs from across the House Commons who want to see parliament act to address this serious issue. If we are to retain the public’s confidence in Parliament, we must hold Tony Blair to account for the misleading statements he made in the run up to the war in Iraq.

“I’d now encourage everyone who believes that parliament was misled to lend your support to this cross-party campaign by joining me in signing this petition today.”