'I Don't Care Who Wrote The Cheque' Nick Lays Into Blair Over Millionaire Jihadi
23 February 2017, 10:22 | Updated: 23 February 2017, 11:52
Nick Ferrari slammed politicians for getting in a "war of words" over the suicide bomber Jamal al-Harith, who carried out a terrorist attack this week.
Earlier this week Jamal al-Harith, thought to be a member of Isis, carried out a suicide bombing attack in Iraq.
Al-Harith, formerly Abu Zakariya al-Britani, was released from Guantanamo at the request of Blair's government in 2004.
He was handed a £1 million payout in 2010 by the Conservative-led coalition government.
The Daily Mail reported Tory MP Tim Loughton as saying: "So much for Tony Blair's assurances that this extremist did not pose a security threat. He clearly was a risk to Britain and our security all along.
"It adds insult to injury that he was given £1 million in compensation because of Blair's flawed judgement that he was an innocent."
But Tony Blair has reacted to the claims, saying he would "not normally respond" to stories about his time in office, but would do so because of the "utter hypocrisy" of the story.
Here Nick Ferrari lays into the Blair and the other politicians for their "war of words".
He said: "Only politicians would get involved in a war of words over who actually wrote the cheque to a terrorist who killed himself on Monday. Do they honestly think any of us give a damn as to who wrote the cheque?
"We are more concerned about how it happened. I don't care whether it was Tony Blair who signed the cheque, Ken Clarke who signed the cheque, I don't care if it was the Easter Bunny who signed the bloody cheque.
"What has happened is the cheque should have never been signed in the first place. The guy should never have been allowed back in.
"And here's the incredible thing, right, did it never occur to anyone to take away the man's passport? Did no one?
"Now look, if you are suitably motivated that you think it's a good idea to pack a Jeep with a load of explosives, drive it as a suicide bomber, and take you to wherever you think you've come from, from whichever god to whom you might pray, I realise, I realise taking away a passport is probably not going, say, stop someone with that much foul evil in his or, possibly her, heart.
"I get it. But wouldn't it be a sign? Instead we get involved in the most extraordinary war of words, with Tony Blair deciding to blame the Daily Mail.
"It's the Queen who says 'don't complain and don't explain'...never let them know you're rattled. Never let them know.
"They would be roaring and I don't blame them...Why would a former Prime Minister, a man as successful as he once was, all that he achieved, worry about what a newspaper might or might not be saying about him.
"And then we had the extraordinary thing with Jack Straw, seeming to effectively say that they knew he was guilty but he still had to be released."
