Letter: Blair attacks

The poisonous attacks in your correspondence columns by David Purves on Tony Blair continue unabated (Letters, 4 September). The latest merely repeats the same skewered and one-sided bile as his previous efforts, with not a scintilla of objectivity or placing of events or words in context.

In the run-up to the Second World War, many people were reassuring everyone that Hitler, like Saddam Hussein in latter years, was a reasonable chap and could be talked out of his evil plans peacably and, anyway, Poland and Czechoslovakia were far away and it was none of our business. Churchill was pilloried by the appeasers then and took almost exactly the same vilification Blair does today.

It took 50 million lives in the last world war for the message to get through that appeasement does not work and evil must be faced and confronted.

Blair did what was needed to be done for humanity and will be remembered as a great prime minister long after the whining of those who hate him has stopped.

ALEXANDER MCKAY

New Cut Rigg

Edinburgh

I HAVE only read summaries of Tony Blair's book, and I have no desire to encourage people to purchase said tome, because the former prime minister has admitted that he told lies up to the Iraq conflict and on many other issues so that he could con parliament into backing his decisions. Surely that is the greatest of crimes which deserves him being condemned by his parliamentary peers and party as well as facing criminal charges by the police?

Maybe he should face the ultimate charge as a war criminal and brought before the International Court in the Hague? Why is parliament keeping silent on his revelations? The Blair era is over so let us know the truth.

TERRY DUNCAN

Greame Road

Bridlington, East Yorkshire