MPs to debate motion declaring Tony Blair in 'contempt' of parliament in September

A cross-party alliance of MPs have brought the motion

Tony Blair (PA)

MPs are to debate a motion on whether to declare Tony Blair in “contempt” of Parliament because of his role in the Iraq War.

The Speaker refused immediate parliamentary time for the motion, which was proposed by MPs from across seven parties, on Wednesday.

So the debate will happen in September, on an opposition day debate allocated to the Scottish National Party, according to the Guardian newspaper.

The landmark Chilcot inquiry, which, since 2009 had been investigating the circumstances of the invasion, said earlier this month that Mr Blair’s intelligence case for the attack on Iraq was “not justified” by the facts.

Figures to back the motion include Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Dame Margaret Beckett, a close supporter of Mr Blair, said: “The Chilcot report was never going to settle the arguments about the war.

“The people behind this contempt motion were always going to use the Chilcot report for their own ends. It is, however, very clear from the Chilcot report that Tony Blair did not lie, did not falsify intelligence and that the Cabinet was not misled on the presentation of the legal advice.

“As a member of the Cabinet at the time, I am clear that the Attorney General provided a clear legal basis for military action which was consistent with all the information with which Cabinet had been presented on a regular basis over the previous weeks.”

A spokesperson for the group of MPs organising the censure motion said parallel legal action threatened by families of soldiers who served in the Iraq War could proceed separately to their efforts.

“This initiative does not interfere in any way with legal action either by the authorities in terms of criminal law or by the service families in the civil courts. However, there is a specific parliamentary matter of holding the former prime minister to account given the revelations in Chilcot,” the spokesperson said.

“Most damning of all is the detailing of what Blair was promising US President George W Bush in private memos while he was telling Parliament and people something entirely different in public statements.

“If we are to prevent such a catastrophe happening again it is essential that parliamentarians learn to hold the executive to critical examination in a way that Parliament failed to do in 2003.

“Holding Blair to account will be an essential part of that process of parliamentary accountability. The case has been made by Chilcot and any Parliament worth its salt is duty bound to take action.”