‘Blair would be complicit in murder’: Labour MPs attack ex-PM after refusal to cut ties with Riyadh

Tony Blair has been urged by a Labour MP to cut ties with the Saudi Arabia and pull the plug on the multimillion-dollar deal his organization has with the regime, otherwise he would be “complicit in war crimes and murder.”

Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle says that, in light of the recent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, coupled with Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war in Yemen, it would be “absolutely immoral” for Blair to continue his close relationship with the kingdom, Business Insider (BI) reports.

“If Mr Blair doesn’t see the light and continues to accept money from the Saudis then I think his moral integrity is in ruins,” Russell-Moyle told BI.

READ MORE: Tony Blair Institute confirms it received funding from Saudi Arabia

“Our own government is reviewing their relationship with Saudi Arabia and if others are not doing the same, then they are complicit in war crimes and murder,” he added.

Fellow Labour MP Chris Williamson took to social media to suggesting it would be appropriate for Blair’s institute to return the money it has received from the Saudis.

Blair’s Institute for Global Change organization reportedly signed a deal worth £9 million ($11.6 million) with the Saudi government earlier this year, in order to “support the change program” in the country.

A spokesperson for the institute was asked whether Blair would continue dealing with the Saudi regime following the murder of Khashoggi. They told BI: “We have nothing further to add to what Mr Blair has said previously.”

Blair told Reuters earlier this month that the murder of the Saudi journalist was “extremely troubling” and risked undermining the “process of modernization” in the kingdom, but noted that the Saudis had “issued a very strong denial” of responsibility. This denial has come under scrutiny even from US President Donald Trump.

Jeremy Corbyn, the current Labour leader and Blair’s rival for the soul of the party, has called on Western leaders to cut ties with the Saudi regime in response to Khashoggi’s killing. The left-winger, despite numerous criticisms of Blair in the past, hasn’t yet singled out his predecessor.

“The issues that have come to light of the death in Istanbul of a Saudi national who was visiting the embassy call into question the close relationship with Saudi Arabia of so many Western countries,” Corbyn told CNN.

After stepping down as prime minister in 2007, Blair took on several roles, including his highly criticized job as Middle East envoy for the UN, which he carried out for eight years. He also formed Tony Blair Associates to give “strategic advice” to a myriad of clients, which included governments in Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, as well as oil companies.

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