Impeach Blair campaign

On August 26th 2004, a cross-party group of British MPs announced their intention to impeach the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair for high crimes and misdemeanours.

A Case to Answer

In August 2004, Adam Price MP commissioned and published the report: : a first report on the potential impeachment of the Prime Minister for High Crimes and Misdemeanours in relation to the invasion of Iraq. The document was written by (lecturer of politics at University of Cambridge) and (Honorary Fellow of Birkbeck College, University of London.) The report is 111 pages and divided into two sections.

Section I

The first part of the report details evidence for charges that an MP could use when moving for impeachment. The evidence detailed by the report suggest that Tony Blair:

• made unsupported statements to the house and the public;
• failed to report counter-evidence;
• failed to verify claims in the evidence;
• failed to remove errors found in the evidence; and
• made a secret agreement with President Bush to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Section II

The second part examines the history of impeachment proceedings and looks at the possibility of bringing impeachment proceedings in modern government. It also gives the impeachable offences for which Tony Blair must offer a defence:

• failing to resign after misleading parliament and the country;
• making a secret agreement with a foreign power;
• undermining the constitution; and
• negligence and incompetence.

Finally, it give precedents for considering the conduct of a Prime Minister.

Legal Opinion

The campaign hired solicitor Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers to represent their case. They have also asked Cherie Blair QC. Cherie was not involved in the case due to the obvious conflict of interest.

Support

MPs calling for impeachment debate

[Top] Conservative Party David Amess Richard Bacon Peter Bottomley Angela Browning Nigel Evans Edward Garnier Douglas Hogg QC Boris Johnson Richard Page [Top] Labour Party Peter Kilfoyle

[Top] Liberal Democrats Paul Marsden Jenny Tonge [Top] Plaid Cymru Elfyn Llwyd Adam Price Simon Thomas Hywel Williams [Top] Scottish National Party Annabelle Ewing Angus Robertson Alex Salmond Mike Weir Pete Wishart

Other political supporters

• The green party
• Lord Murray

Internet Campaign

Official campaign web site

Adam Price MP stated that he wanted the public to feel involved in the campaign, so a was set up to provide resources and channel feedback. The site is funded by donations and does not appear to have the resources required to deal with the demand at the moment.

The web site features:

• information about the campaign;
• free download of the report and legal opinion;
• statements from some of the MPs involved;
• news about the campaign;
• an e-mail mailing list;
• resources to help you get involved;
• resources to help you get your MP involved; and
• a contact address for donations.

Other Internet resources

currently has a gathering stories world wide on the impeachment campaign.

Public Reaction

On Wednesday, 26th of August, Channel 4's seven o'clock news broadcast a story on the impeachment campaign. By Thursday evening the web server had crashed due to the high traffic. During the first weekend, over 10,000 copies of the report were downloaded via the web site.

Labour Reaction

Tam Dalyell, Labour Party MP for Linlithgow is quoted as saying:

?I was sent the document. I read it very carefully. It's easy just to dismiss it and say the whole thing is preposterous. But as a document I think it requires refutation in some detail. What they have produced is a perfectly serious document that makes a coherent case.

?But if I and other Labour MPs endorsed it, there would be a terrible row about treachery. One would be labelled as a traitor and have to defend oneself. I don't mind being called a traitor, but I don't think it would help much.

?I have been quite open in saying I want the Prime Minister to go because of Iraq. I made a speech during the debate on the Butler Report last month in which I said he should resign. Downing Street is trying to close down the impeachment attempt by dismissing it as a joke.?