Bestselling Novelists Lead the Charge to Impeach Tony Blair

Posted on November 24, 2004

The movement to impeach British Prime Minister Tony Blair is gathering momentum and some novelists are leading the charge. Wired reports that members of Parliament are being joined by authors and other celebrities in their bid to impeach Tony Blair for "gross misconduct" over his justification for the Iraq war.

The impeachment movement (the first in England since the mid-19th century) is supported by 23 lawmakers so far, as well as bestselling novelists Frederick Forsyth and Iain Banks. Supporters say they wish to punish Blair for allegedly misleading the country over the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. So far, there are not enough votes to remove Mr. Blair from office, but the movement is a political embarrassment to the politician whose poll numbers are dropping. Mr. Blair is widely expected to win re-election in May, 2005, and continues to be a staunch ally of President Bush's foreign policy.