Tony Blair still won’t accept his Gold Medal

The news that Tony Blair (pictured) is to be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of America's highest civilian honours, has focused attention on his dogged reluctance to collect another award given to him by his old chum George W. Bush, the Congressional Gold Medal. For while the former Prime Minister has agreed to visit Washington on January 13, only the Freedom gong will be handed over on that day.

The Congressional Gold Medal of Honour was awarded to Blair on July 2003, and was given in recognition for his unwavering support of Bush's war on terror in Afghanistan and, more controversially, Iraq. Sir David Manning, the former British Ambassador, argued at the time that Blair felt unable to pick up the medal while he was in office because it would reinforce the prejudices of those convinced that he was "some sort of poodle".

The award is the highest of honours – the only other Briton to receive it was Sir Winston Churchill – but it has some very bitter associations for the former PM. On the day the honour was officially announced, and within hours of receiving a standing ovation for his speech to both Houses of Congress, he discovered that Dr David Kelly, the government scientist named as the source for damaging stories on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, had committed suicide.

Speaking to the Times, Clare Short, the former Cabinet minister who resigned over the war in Iraq, said the reason Blair is steering clear of his Congressional Gold Medal is "because it was an embarrassment". Of the Freedom medal, she added: "It is for services rendered. Bush is a disastrous president. Iraq was the most disastrous element of his presidency. Blair, by going along with it, made it all possible. They have been glued at the hip all the way. It is all very sad and fitting."