The evidence of the former head of Britain’s security service MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, to the ongoing Chilcott enquiry into the Iraq war, has destroyed any remaining shred of credibility for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The former head of MI5 Lady Manningham-Buller revealed that she never considered Saddam Hussein a serious threat to Britain and the West, a point she made clear in various correspondences with officials at the Home Office, long before any military action was taken. The Iraq war made Britain a more dangerous place and allowed Al Qaeda to gain a hold in Iraq, she observed.

The people of the United Kingdom did not want any part of the war in Iraq, or for that matter the conflict in Afghanistan. The average man and woman on the street despairs at the sight of another soldier being flown home from the Middle East in a body bag. These conflicts are costing us dear in terms of financing and human life but, perhaps worst of all, they have caused seismic shifts within the fabric of British society, which may never be restored, setting tens of thousands of Muslims apart from their colleagues and neighbours. British Muslims have good cause for condemning the UK’s interference in wars that are not ours. Meanwhile, non-Muslims, having witnessed the rise in so-called home-grown terrorism, feel they no longer know who among the Muslim communities they can trust.

As the Chilcott enquiry continues, it becomes increasingly evident that Tony Blair is the man responsible for the diabolical situation in which the UK finds itself. All the signs are that a pull-out of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will be effected within the next two years; however, there is nothing to indicate that fatalities will diminish in the interim. But, as the death toll rises, instead of instituting legal proceedings against Mr Blair for his role in instigating war, the man is fêted wherever he goes, particularly in the Middle East region. If anyone has made a mockery of British justice, it is this former lawyer, turned politician, turned warmonger, turned millionaire businessman.