‘We stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing’ Tony Blair denies he is a war criminal

By Laura Hughes, Ben Riley-Smith

Tony Blair has said he is not a”war criminal” and hit out at Jeremy Corbyn for “standing by “as Syria is “beaten and starved into submission.” 

The former Prime Minister launched an extraordinary attack on the Labour leader, who he accused of representing the “politics of protest.” He complained he had become a figure of “hate” because he had taken difficult decisions. 

Corbyn, a life-long pacifist, faced a rebellion from his shadow cabinet and MPs last year when he opposed British airstrikes in Syria. 

A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the comments and inflamed tensions by repeatedly refusing to say the Labour leader would campaign alongside Mr Blair in the referendum if approached. 

Asked if Corbyn would share a platform with Blair to call for an In vote, the spokesman said: “We have no plans to share a platform with Tony Blair.” 

Speaking to Blomberg, Blair said:“I’m accused of being a war criminal for removing Saddam Hussein—who by the way was a war criminal—and yet Jeremy is seen as a progressive icon as we stand by and watch the people of Syria barrel-bombed, beaten and starved into submission and do nothing.” He added: “There’s a guy whose face is on the placard. That’s me: Hate that guy.

“You’re the person in power taking difficult decisions. Jeremy is the guy with the placard, he’s the guy holding it. One’s the politics of power and the other’s the politics of protest.”

Asked about Blair’s comments, a Labour spokesman said it was “not corrected” that Jeremy Corbyn is leading a “protest” party. 

The spokesman also rejected the suggestion Corbyn shared any blame for the deaths of Syrians from the civil war, saying he opposed air strikes to help secure “peace”.

It comes as Corbyn is preparing to call for Tony Blair to be investigated for war crimes in the wake of a damning Chilcot report into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War.

Blair’s reputation is expected to be seriously “damaged” by the upcoming Inquiry, according to a senior source who has discussed the report with its authors.

It is understood that Corbyn will not row back from calls he made last year for Blair to stand trial for war crimes if he is found to have broken the law over the 2003 conflict.

Blair has refused to say whether he will accept the verdict of the Chilcot report when it is released in July. 

The former Labour leader said he will have to wait until reading the full findings before reacting, fuelling speculation he may challenge some of the central claims.

Asked last year, as a contender for the Labour leadership, if Blair should be charged for war crimes, Corbyn said: “If he’s committed a war crime, yes. Everyone who’s committed a war crime should be.

“I think it was an illegal war, I’m confident about that, indeed (former UN secretary general) Kofi Annan confirmed it was an illegal war, and therefore he has to explain to that.”Is he going to be tried for it, I don’t know. Could he be tried for it? Possibly.”