'Tony Blair could face contempt of parliament motion over Iraq war'

Tony Blair could face a motion of contempt in the House of Commons over the 2003 invasion of Iraq, British media reported on Monday after some MPs accused the former prime minister of misleading parliament. The Conservative MP David Davis, backed by the Scottish National Party's Alex Salmond, has said he will present on Thursday the motion accusing Blair of misleading parliament. 

MPs could debate the issue before the summer if it is accepted by the Commons Speaker, John Bercow. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also indicated that he would probably support the motion of contempt against Blair.
Sir John Chilcot said in his long-awaited report on the Iraq invasion that the legal basis for the war was reached in a way that was "far from satisfactory", but he did not explicitly say the war was illegal.

Conservative MP Davis told BBC that the motion would say Blair, 63, held the house in contempt over the 2003 invasion. He said that if his motion was accepted by Bercow it could be debated before parliament's summer recess. Davis said: "It's a bit like contempt of court, essentially by deceit. If you look just at the debate alone, on five different grounds the house was misled three in terms of the weapons of mass destruction, one in terms of the UN votes were going, and one in terms of the threat, the risks. He might have done one of those accidentally, but five?" 

Salmond said he believed Corbyn's support would mean the motion had enough cross-party support. "No parliament worth its salt tolerates being misled," Scotland's former first minister told ITV. He said Blair's promise to George Bush that he would be "with you, whatever" meant Blair had been "saying one thing to (former US President) George W Bush in private, and a totally different thing to parliament and people in public". He said Blair's actions were "a parliamentary crime, and it's time for parliament to deliver the verdict".

The prospect of a contempt vote has opened a rift between Corbyn, the Labour leader, and Angela Eagle, the former shadow business secretary who is challenging him for the leadership, the Guardian reported. Asked about the potential vote, Corbyn said he would probably back the motion. "Parliament must hold to account, including Tony Blair, those who took us into this particular war," he said. Eagle hinted that she would not support it. Explaining that she had not yet seen the motion, she told the BBC, "We have to make certain that we don't spend our time in parliament just exacting revenge. I think Tony Blair has been put, rightly, through the mill about the decisions he took. The Chilcot report did that. We would be far better learning the lessons and making certain that we don't fall into the same mistakes if God forbid there should be a future situation where these decisions are made," Eagle added.