IRA victims’ anger at honour for ‘Sir Tony’
VICTIMS of IRA atrocities condemned Tony Blair’s knighthood yesterday over his secret deal to provide ‘get out of jail free’ cards to almost 200 suspected terrorists.
Families torn apart by Republican attacks hit out at the former prime minister for ‘providing an effective amnesty to murderers and bombers’ as part of the 1998 Northern Ireland peace deal.
Tory grandee Lord Tebbit, who was severely injured in an IRA bomb attack during the 1984 Conservative Party conference, said Sir Tony’s agreement to release terrorists early and provide immunity to others should ‘demerit him from any honours’.
It came as a petition demanding that Sir Tony is stripped of the honour – announced at New Year – passed 900,000 signatures. While the former PM’s involvement in the Good Friday Agreement has been lauded for bringing an end to 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, victims of terrorist attacks have criticised concessions he was forced to make to Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA.
Mark Tipper’s brother, Trooper Simon Tipper, was one of four soldiers from the
‘I despise Blair for what he has done’
Blues and Royals killed by an IRA bomb at Hyde Park in 1982. Chief suspect John downey walked free from the Old Bailey in 2014 when he produced an ‘on-therun’ letter issued in secret by Sir Tony’s government to at least 187 fugitives.
The controversial documents, also called ‘comfort letters’, told those accused of serious crimes including murder and terrorism that they were no longer ‘wanted’. In 2019, a civil court found downey was an ‘active participant’ in the bombing.
Mr Tipper said: ‘The on-the-run letters were beyond belief, to give terrorists a get out of jail free card, which is what it was. The terrorists got away but we as victims have to live with it for the rest of our lives. It wasn’t until 2019 that we got the justice we deserved.
‘Blair has a lot of families to answer to who he left hurt because of the decisions he thought were right. I think they were only to suit his legacy. I despise Blair for what he has done. A knighthood? Not for me.’ In 2015 Sir Tony apologised for downey’s letter.
Lord Tebbit’s late wife Margaret was left paralysed from the chest down following the 1984 assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet. The 90year-old peer said: ‘The result of the Good Friday Agreement was terrorists getting out of jail free, while for years afterwards soldiers who were seeking to deal with terrorists have been put on trial.’
Five people were killed in the attack at The Grand Hotel, Brighton. Bomber Patrick Magee was freed early from prison in 1999 having served 14 years, despite a legal challenge by then-Home Secretary Jack Straw. Lord Tebbit added: ‘I did not see how it was possible for a reasonable-minded man to come to the conclusion that he should have been released.’
Victims campaigner Alex Bunting, who lost a leg in 1991 when an IRA bomb detonated in his taxi described Sir Tony’s knighthood as ‘absolutely disgusting’. While the former PM had played a major role in the peace deal, his decision to provide ‘amnesties’ was ‘the start of a slippery slope’, he said.
SAS hero Robin Horsfall, 64, one of the elite soldiers to storm the Iranian Embassy in 1980, revealed he mobilised his veterans’ following of over 200,000 on social media to sign the petition.
But crossbench peer Lord Kilclooney, a former Ulster Unionist Party MP who was seriously injured in a 1972 Official IRA assassination attempt, backed Sir Tony’s honour.
He said: ‘I worked closely with Tony in preparation for the Belfast Agreement and I have nothing but admiration for his time and effort in getting devolution restored to Northern Ireland. His knighthood is well deserved.’ Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also took a swipe, sharing a link to the daily Mail’s revelation that Sir Tony’s defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, said he was ordered to burn a memo warning that invading Iraq could be illegal. Mr Corbyn wrote: ‘This underlines once more what a disastrous act of aggression the war on Iraq was.’
A YouGov survey conducted on Tuesday found that 63 per cent of Britons disapprove of the knighthood while 14 per cent approve.