Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group call for "Tony Blair to account for war crimes"

Philip Gilligan addressed the rally on behalf of Greater Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group have once again displayed their effigy of ‘Tony Blair’ and called for him to be "arrested for war crimes". They recalled the day in 2006 when they pushed Blair from Rochdale Town Hall to Manchester in a dustbin and that in 2010 when he waved his ‘dodgy dossier’ in Yorkshire Street.

On Sunday (10 July 2016) the peace group joined the ‘Jail Tony’ event, in central Manchester, called by Greater Manchester Stop the War Coalition in response to the conclusions of the Chilcot Report, which on Wednesday (6 July 2016) confirmed that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was launched by the former prime minister ‘before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted’.

Philip Gilligan, who addressed the rally on behalf of Greater Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said: “In 2003, the peace group alongside thousands in Rochdale and millions throughout the world made it very clear that we rejected Blair’s fanciful tales about non-existent WMDs in Iraq and opposed Bush and Blair’s illegal invasion.

"The Chilcot Report confirms that Blair disregarded warnings about the potential consequences of military action, and that he presented his arguments for war ‘with a certainty that was not justified’.

"We needed to protest against the warmongers thirteen years ago and we need to continue to protest against them now.

Those who vote for unnecessary wars and in favour of immoral nuclear weapons of mass destruction have made our world an ever more dangerous place, spreading death and destruction across the planet.

"In 2016, we continue to reject the policies of the warmongers, whether these are being promoted by David Cameron, Theresa May, John Woodcock, Angela Eagle and anyone else. We shall continue to oppose all those who vote in Parliament for illegal wars or so-called ‘Trident replacement’. We need peace and justice, not death, destruction and the threat of nuclear annihilation.”