Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s ennoblement, courtesy of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, has been defended by British House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
Sir Tony, rather than Sir Anthony, as he is now known, has been made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter 14 years after leaving Downing Street.
However, the honor has been criticized by Blair’s political opponents and those who argue that the legacy of his invasion of Iraq in 2003 makes him unsuitable.
Hoyle on Saturday morning said he felt that the honor, the oldest and most senior British order of chivalry, was “a fitting tribute” for a former prime minister, although he felt it was not a political decision.
“Whatever people might think, it is one of the toughest jobs in the world, and I think it is respectful and it is the right thing to do, whether it is Sir David Cameron, they should all be offered that knighthood,” Hoyle said, referring to another former British prime minister.
Hoyle was talking to Today program presenter Martha Kearney on BBC Radio 4 when he was asked if he believed that all recent former British prime ministers should now be knighted.
“If you have been prime minister of this country, I do believe the country should recognize the service given. Absolutely. You finish in the office and when you’ve finished it is the respect that we give to those prime ministers,” he said.
Most attacks on the monarch’s appointment of Blair to the order — membership of which was also given on Saturday to Britain’s Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, and to former UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos, the first black person to be honored this way — have come from the political left, but were picked up by right-leaning media, including the Daily Mail.
The newspaper said there had been backlash, quoting satirical posts on Twitter from veteran investigative journalist John Pilger and from former British lawmaker George Galloway.
Blair’s predecessor, John Major, was the last to receive the honor.
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