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Interesting that one of the most powerful actions of the week turned out to be a non-action. Peter Brierley – father of Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley, one of the first to die in Iraq, at St Paul's to commemorate soldiers and personnel killed in the conflict – refusing to shake Tony Blair's hand, with the words: "I am not shaking your hand. You have got blood on it."

Blair – clearly shocked, was bustled away by security, the whole thing akin to some bizarre inversion of the usual over-zealous fan/reluctant celebrity scenario.

Mr Brierley spoke afterwards of the millions of pounds Blair has made, and the talk of making him head of the EU, describing him as: "A war criminal. I cannot bear to be in the same room as him." During the ceremony Blair had to sit through what could be described as another "arch dissing", as Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, ruminated on our collective responsibility to be alert to the true cost of war, and the dangers of exaggerated rhetoric. But it is Brierley who sticks in the mind. No screaming, no eggs thrown [no shoes thrown], no punches, just a refusal to press flesh.

What spurred Peter Brierley to make his protest in this way? Stupid question really – his son, his boy, was killed in a conflict his father, like many others, believes was a lie, a farce, a botched job.

Suddenly, one of the figures Brierley deems most responsible for his son's death is standing right in front of him, with his paw extended. What is a grieving father supposed to do? And perhaps Brierley had seen Blair, moments earlier, posing with soldiers for photographs, even raising eyebrows by signing Orders of Service pamphlets.

Poor, crass Tony, seemingly still too attention-loving and insecure to politely turn down an autograph session, however inappropriate the occasion.

However, getting back to Brierley, and the resonance of his refusal to shake hands with our former prime minister, and potential EU president. While evidently he did it for his son, and all the dead of Iraq, didn't Brierley also amplify and invigorate the enormous power of peaceful civilian protest?

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/11/barbara-ellen-comment

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