Relatives of troops killed in the Iraq War have launched an online crowd-funding appeal to pay for possible legal action against Tony Blair.
The Iraq War Families Campaign group are trying to raise £50,000 to “bring to justice to those responsible for the war and the deaths of our loved ones”.
The appeal follows the Chilcot Inquiry, which sharply criticised the decision-making behind the war and said it had been poorly-planned and ended in failure. The appeal had already reached £20,000 by Tuesday morning.
The group is led by Roger Bacon and Reg Keys, whose sons were among 179 British personnel killed in Iraq.
The appeal hopes to fund a legal team to comb Sir John Chilcot’s 2.6 million-word report and prepare “a comprehensive opinion approved by expert senior counsel” on whether action could be brought.
Lawyers are understood to be looking at bringing a civil case of misfeasance in public office, which would see Mr Blair dragged through the courts for the first time over his decision to take the UK to war.
Mr Bacon and Mr Keys said: “Before Matthew, Tom and so many of their fellow servicemen and women died, we knew the risks all British military personnel assume when serving Queen and country.
“However, the long-awaited Iraq Inquiry (Chilcot) Report has confirmed that there were serious failings in the lead-up to, planning and conduct of the war, which led to so many unnecessary deaths.
“Our armed forces must never again be so callously sacrificed by political ambition and the irresponsibility and failings of government and Whitehall.”
The long-awaited Chilcot report strongly-criticised the way the former prime minister took the country to war in 2003 on the basis of “flawed” intelligence with inadequate preparation. at a time when Saddam Hussein did not pose an “imminent threat”.
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