COSATU supports boycott of Tony Blair's visit

The Congress of South African Trade Unions supports the protests against the visit to South Africa by former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who ordered British troops to join the US-led invasion of Iraq on the basis of unproven allegations of the existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

The federation welcomes the decision by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to refuse to share the platform with Blair at a "leadership summit" in Johannesburg on Thursday.

COSATU agrees with the archbishop emeritus that "Mr Blair's decision to support the United States' military invasion of Iraq, is morally indefensible" and therefore he should not have been invited to a Summit on "leadership".

COSATU endorses totally the statement by our affiliate SAMWU, that "when the criminal decision was made to invade Iraq, based on the blatant lies about weapons of mass destruction, and against the overwhelming wishes of the British people, he [Blair] was prepared to abandon the sovereignty of his own country to become Bush's lap dog and chief apologist.

"This decision cost the lives of thousands of innocent people, and has left Iraq and the region as a whole in turmoil. The invasion prepared the way for the pillaging of Iraq's resources by US and UK based multinational corporations, thanks to Blair."

COSATU urges members and supporters to attend the protest against Blair's visit, the details of which are:

Where: Corner of Fifth and West Street, Sandton

Date: Thursday 30 August

Time: 14h00

Statement issued by COSATU national spokesperson, Patrick Craven, August 29 2012

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter