Call for Blair's Save the Children award to be revoked

Tony Blair at the charity event in New York last week. Credit: PA

A petition calling for an anti-poverty award given to former prime minister Tony Blair to be revoked has gained more than 90,000 signatures.

Blair was handed the Global Legacy Award by Save the Children at an event in New York last week.

But since then nearly 200 staff from the charity itself have also signed a letter calling it "morally reprehensible", the Guardian reported..

It added the award was "inappropriate and a betrayal to Save the Children's founding principles and values".

Critics claim the former politician's "'legacy' in Iraq overshadows his achievements in Africa".

Comedian Dom Joly, an ambassador for Save the Children, tweeted he was "pretty embarrassed" to be linked to the charity in light of the award.

A response posted on the Office of Tony Blair website branded the Guardian article "neither balanced nor fair".

It read: "The award was in recognition of Tony Blair's work in leading G8 nations at Gleneagles in 2005 to pledge to double aid to Africa and provide 100% debt relief to eligible countries, as well as his ongoing work in partnership with African governments through his Foundation, the Africa Governance Initiative.

"The AGI is helping some of the world's poorest people and is today working in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Guinea, Nigeria and Ethiopia."