Arrest Blair: A Bounty On Tony’s Head
Tony Blair has probably never been less popular than he is now. I remember when he initially took the throne of power in the mighty city of England. I remember thinking “this guy seems OK”. It turns out that his lasting achievement was a baseless war where thousands upon thousands of innocent people died needlessly. That’s not the sort of thing I would want on my conscience and I wonder if, under the cover of darkness, he sheds a tear for the decisions he was involved in making?
I found a website today called “Arrest Blair“. The purpose of the site is to incite the general public to make a citizens arrest on him for war crimes. It sounds like a bit of a joke and I suppose it kind of is, but they’re actually going through with it. You can donate money to the website and when someone actually has a bash at carrying out a citizen’s arrest on Tony, they get a cut of the cash.
You have to make the attempt peaceably and to the best of your abilities. This will entitle you to a quarter of the total money in the pot at the given time. The purpose is predominantly to keep the crimes in the public’s mind; the aim is to prevent such a debacle happening again rather than to personally punish Blair. It’s an unabashed publicity stunt and the makers of the site make no bones about it:
We have no interest in people’s motivation, as long as they follow the rules laid down by this site. If they try to arrest Mr Blair because they care about the people he has killed, so much the better. But if they do it only for the money, that is fine too, and we will have encouraged an attempt which would not otherwise have taken place.
The site is aware that the citizens arrest will be purely symbolic at this stage, but if the story hits the national rags they’re chuffed to bits. If you’re planning on giving it a go here are the rules:
- You must be non-violet and non-threatening
- Rest a hand on his elbow or shoulder in a way that he can not feel trapped
- Say “Mr Blair, this is a citizens’ arrest for a crime against peace, namely your decision to launch an unprovoked war against Iraq. I am inviting you to accompany me to a police station to answer the charge.”
- Explain calmly to any police present what you are doing
- LEG IT!!! – not really, no need to run. If you follow those rules you haven’t broken the law and you can probably just make your way home and collect your winnings
This site isn’t purely for show though. There have been 5 “winners” to date:
1) 29th January 2010 – Grace McCann
Grace McCann tried to arrest Tony Blair as he left the Chilcot Inquiry. She was restrained by the police but she got the story into the Independent and on Sky News so job done. She got £2,619.67.
2) 22nd March 2010 – David Cronin
David Cronin attempted a citizens’ arrest of Tony Blair as he was about to enter a hearing on Palestine in the European Parliament. Cronin got even more media interest and netted himself £2,801.98.
3) 4th September 2010 – Kate O’Sullivan
Kate O’Sullivan attempted to make a citizen’s arrest on Tony Blair at his book signing in Eason’s bookstore in Dublin, Ireland. She spoke to him face to face and was swiftly removed by security. She bagged £3,129.02.
4) 14th June 2012 – Tom Grundy
Tom Grundy attempted to arrest Tony Blair while he was speaking at Hong Kong University. Grundy was widely reported and was given £2,420.89 which he is giving to charity.
5) 17th January 2014 – Twiggy Garcia
Twiggy Garcia had a bash at the restaurant he worked at when tony Blair was at lunch. This got the biggest media response to date and Twiggy will receive £2222.55.
So, if you happen to be at the same party or function as Mr Blair this weekend, why not give it a go? You can make a tidy profit and do something worthwhile. Double whammy.
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