VIDEO: Alan Simpson told Notts TV Tony Blair should face a war crimes trial
A former Nottingham Labour MP says Tony Blair should be prosecuted for war crimes after the Chilcot Report.
Alan Simpson, the former Nottingham South MP, was a vocal opponent of the decision to join the US-led invasion in 2003.
He led the Labour Against the War group and was one of more than 100 ‘rebel’ MPs who voted against the conflict.
Speaking after today’s long-awaited publication of the Chilcot Report, on the decision to go to war, he called for Mr Blair to be referred to the International Criminal Court as a potential war criminal.
The report’s main findings were that the UK joined the invasion of the Iraq “before peaceful options for disarmament exhausted” and that military action was “not a last resort.”
Speaking about the report, Mr Simpson said: “As Chilcot has shown, the private memo from Blair to George Bush in July 2002 saying ‘I will be with you whatever’ nailed the lie of everything that followed; it was just pure deception.
“It isn’t the basis of mistakes; it’s conscious misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the evidence that we had.
“The worst lie was to the families of serving personnel who were killed on the basis of deception, with the families saying action should be taken against that squandering.”
How they voted: Notts MPs at the time and how they voted in Parliament on the decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003
Graham Allen, Nottingham North, Lab: AGAINST
Geoff Hoon, then Ashfield, Lab: FOR
Alan Meale, Mansfield, Lab: DID NOT VOTE
Paddy Tipping, then Sherwood, Lab: DID NOT VOTE
Nick Palmer, then Broxtowe, Lab: FOR
John Heppell, then Nottingham East, Lab: FOR
Vernon Coaker, Gedling, Lab: FOR
John Mann, Bassetlaw, Lab: FOR
Alan Simpson, then Nottingham South, Lab: AGAINST
Ken Clarke, Rushcliffe, Con: DID NOT VOTE
Patrick Mercer, then Newark, Con: FOR
Mr Blair has denied lying in the build-up to the conflict and says the report proves he did not use deceit to convince Parliament and the country to go to war.
Mr Simpson added: “I was the leader of the Labour Against the War movement at the time and the weapons inspectors were saying to us that they were fairly certain that they don’t exist, ‘give us more time’.
“[George] Bush had his troops in place and if the weapons inspectors were given more time, the change of weather conditions in Iraq was going to mean that by the time they were ready to go again, the case for war would have been dispelled by their evidence.
“Acting in advance of that on the basis of false information and false assurances to the House of Commons, where MPs were told if you only knew what I know, you would understand that this is the time we have to act.”
During the press conference, Mr Blair responded to calls that there should be some kind of consequences for him – and he denied using deception, saying the report clears him of lying.
He said: “That’s up to them to call for what they want but what I’ve tried to do today is explain why I acted as I did.
“I knew it was not a popular decision and I knew what costs it might come to politically, though that shrinks into complete insignificance beside the human cost.
“I did it because I thought it was right and that I thought the human cost of inaction and leaving Saddam in power would be greater for us and the world in the longer term.
“In the end, what more can I do than say to people ‘this is why I took the decision I did and if you disagree with me, fine, but please stop saying I was lying or that I had some sort of dishonest or underhand motive.”
