Iraq War families crowd-fund to sue Blair, €60,000 raised in 12 hours

The Iraq Families War Campaign Group (IWFCG) aims to raise £150,000 (€179,922.5) to pay for a legal assessment of the 2.6 million word report, determining whether the families are able to pursue private prosecution of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Just 12 hours after its launch on Tuesday, the appeal had raised almost half its initial target of £50,000 (€59,974), which IWFCG leader Reg Keys described as “humbling”.

"I hope that we will continue to raise our full amount just as fast... Sir John Chilcot’s findings need to be acted upon – and so we thank [the British public] for their massive help,” he said.

The Chilcot report, released earlier this month, focused on the role played by Blair and other leading politicians of the time, but fell short of stating whether those responsible for the Iraq invasion had acted unlawfully.

Under Cabinet Office rules, Blair is covered for all court costs in relation to allegations that he abused his power to invade Iraq.

The Crowd Justice appeal is led by Keys and Roger Bacon, who both lost sons along with 177 other British service personnel killed in Iraq.

“It is very, very disappointing if Tony Blair is indemnified against any financial punishment. It is nauseous to think he will have the taxpayer fund him while we are trying to raise funds to sue him,” Keys said.

The IWFCG said they had launched their appeal “to seek justice where there has been none”.

“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,” the group said in a statement on the appeal website.

“Our armed forces must never again be so callously sacrificed by political ambition and the irresponsibility and failings of Government and Whitehall.”

“Those responsible should be held to account. Now it is down to us, the families, to ensure that justice is done.”

Sir John Chilcot’s report concluded that Blair had overstated the case for military action in March 2003 as there was “no imminent threat” posed by Saddam Hussein and it was not the “last resort”.

Blair insisted he had acted in “good faith” in launching the invasion.

“The report told us what went wrong and who was responsible, but it was not a court of law. If they can, the families are determined to hold those individuals to account by bringing them to trial to answer for their actions,” Matthew Jury, the lawyer representing the families, said.

“Not just for them or their loved ones but to ensure that never again will our politicians act with such impunity in taking our country into an unjust war with such tragic consequences.”