Blair Cleans Up At Awards - Satire, RIP

Soon after masterminding the U.S. bombing of Cambodia Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. At the time the American satirist Tom Lehrer announced there was no further point in his job. 'It was at that moment that satire died,' he declared. 'There was nothing more to say after that.' If there was any breath left in satire's frail old lungs after Kissinger's peace prize, it was finally snuffed out yesterday when the National Constitution Center of the United States awarded its coveted annual Liberty Medal to Tony Blair for his 'steadfast commitment to conflict resolution'. The centre chose to add our former Prime Minister to its roll of honour - which includes Nelson Mandela and the scientists who cracked the DNA code - on the day after the declassification of the official advice he received on the legality of invading Iraq. The documents show that less than two months before the 2003 invasion, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith wrote to him about the relevant UN Security Council resolution, saying: 'I remain of the view that the correct legal interpretation of resolution 1441 is that it does not authorise the use of military force without a further determination by the Security Council.' Blair underlined the bit about not authorising action, and wrote in the margin: 'I just don't understand this.' Of course, Blair understood perfectly well that his government's chief law officer was telling him it would be illegal to invade Iraq without a new UN resolution. A few other Blair contributions to 'liberty' :

Eroding the independence of the Civil Service with 'Specialist Advisers' with the job of spinning facts and figures to suit the Government's purposes.

The stangulation of Cabinet government to be replaced with sofa government and leaks to the media.90-day detention.

Championing ID cards and the ContactPoint database, which holds information on all our children.

His government introduced section 44 of the Terrorism Act, under which 5,000 people a week are being stopped and searched, with not a single terrorist caught.

And the U.S. National Constitutional Center really thinks Blair worthy of its Liberty Medal?

Satire, R.I.P.