Jeremy Clarkson 'flattered' over petition not to have him sacked amid Tony Blair backlash
JEREMY CLARKSON has shared his thoughts about a petition set up to have Tony Blair's knighthood stripped away from him after his similar situation in 2015.
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Tony Blair, 68, was appointed a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the New Year Honours list this month. The news has prompted over a million people to sign a petition to revoke his title. Angus Scott, the creator of the page, says the former Prime Minister "caused irreparable damage to constitution of UK" with the Iraq war and "should be held accountable".
Jeremy Clarkson, 62, has said despite the many signatures so far, he doesn't believe this will make a difference to the "awful man" officially receiving the honour.
The Grand Tour star shared his thoughts after he was once at the centre of a petition following his exit from the BBC in 2015.
After an altercation with a Top Gear producer, his time on the show came to an end with co-stars Richard Hammond and James May.
A petition was later created to bring him back on the show and was signed by 1,061,003 supporters.
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He said: "[It's] not going to happen, I’m afraid, because a million signatures is nothing.
"On the website that’s hosting the anti-Sir Blair movement, more than three times as many people care about getting Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe out of Iran.
"And more than a million put their name to a campaign to stop animal abusers from ever owning a pet again."
He went on to say there were way more people who either backed the ex Prime Minister's knighthood or were simply not interested.
"I was very flattered when a million people signed a petition urging the BBC not to sack me, but I always knew at the back of my mind that some 64million hadn’t," he continued.
Jeremy went on to say that Tony would know how petitions work, following a protest about the Iraq War 2003.
"It was certainly the biggest protest march ever seen in Britain. And what did Blair do? Yup, he ignored it and started the war anyway," The Grand Tour star added to The Sun.
"The only realistic way, then, of stopping Blair from getting his knighthood is to have an official referendum on the matter.
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"But after the Brexit debacle, I can’t see that happening any time soon."
Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has defended the ex Prime Minister's honour as he highlighted his achievements.
He noted he had brought in the national minimum wage and helped set up Sure Start centres for families.
“I understand there are strong views on the Iraq war," he said on Tuesday.
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"There were back at the time and there still are, but that does not detract from the fact that Tony Blair was a very successful prime minister of this country and made a huge difference to the lives of millions of people in this country.”
Tony said of his achievement: “It is an immense honour to be appointed Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and I am deeply grateful to Her Majesty the Queen.
“It was a great privilege to serve as prime minister and I would like to thank all those who served alongside me, in politics, public service and all parts of our society, for their dedication and commitment to our country.”