Ex-UK Defence Secy claims he was asked to burn memo that said Iraq war could be illegal

Former UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon claimed that during Tony Blair's Prime Ministership, Downing Street instructed him to burn a confidential memo that said the 2003 invasion of Iraq was potentially illegal. Hoon made the assertion in his recently published memoir "See How They Run." The claim first emerged in 2015 which was dismissed by Blair as "nonsense" at the time, according to a report by Daily Mail. According to the book, Blair's Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell handed over the memo in 2003, and Hoon's principal private secretary was told "in no uncertain terms" to destroy the secret legal advice, the report added. 

However, Hoon disregarded the instruction by locking the document in a safe at the Ministry of Defence, according to the memoir, which claims that the memo is "probably still there." The disclosures come as an online petition calling for Blair's knighthood to be revoked is fast gathering traction, with more than 6,80,000 signatures in only a few days. Blair has been conferred a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II and now, he is known as Sir Tony from January 1. 

Blair was named a member of the Order of the Garter, England's oldest and most prestigious honour bestowed by the monarch at its discretion. However, the decision to confer the honour to the former Prime Minister has been lambasted by his political opponents and people on social media, who argue that Blair's move to invade Iraq in 2003 makes him unsuitable for this. According to 'Stop the War Coalition' activist Lindsey German, honouring Blair with knighthood is a "kick in the teeth," to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as all those who opposed the US-led war in Iraq, reported Sputnik. 

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle defends Tony Blair knighthood after backlash

It should be mentioned here that Blair decided on the United Kingdom's participation in the US-led coalition's invasion of Iraq in 2003, claiming that Saddam Hussein's regime had active weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programme. The claim was later proved to be false as neither WMD stockpiles nor an operational WMD programme was ever discovered in the country. Meanwhile, British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle has defended Blair's ennoblement by the Queen. He stated that it was a 'fitting tribute' for a former Prime Minister. "All the Prime Ministers should be offered the knighthood once they are complete their tenure," he told BBC Radio 4 as reported by The Guardian.

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