Clare Short

The Right Honourable Clare Short (born February 15, 1946) is a British Labour Party politician. She is a cousin of Canadian-American actor/comic Martin Short, whose parents were emigrants from Northern Ireland. She is the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood, and was Secretary of State for International Development from May 2, 1997 until her resignation on May 12, 2003.

Resignation over Iraq war

On March 9, 2003 Ms Short called Tony Blair "reckless" and threatened to resign from the Cabinet in the event of the British government going to war with Iraq without a clear mandate from the United Nations. This looked set to be a reprise of her previous resignation as party spokesperson during the Gulf War of 1991 as a protest against the Labour Party's stance. However, on March 18 she announced that she would remain in the Cabinet and support the government's resolution in the House of Commons.

Related Topics:
March 9 - 2003 - Tony Blair - Iraq - United Nations - Gulf War - 1991 - March 18

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Short remained in the Cabinet for less than two months after her decision to back the 2003 Iraq War. She resigned on May 12, saying that Blair had broken promises to her about the involvement of the UN in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, and that Blair and Jack Straw had negotiated a UN Security Council resolution that "contradicts the assurances I have given in the House of Commons and elsewhere about the legal authority of the occupying powers, and the need for a UN-led process to establish a legitimate Iraqi government". 10 Downing Street denied the allegations. In her resignation statement to the House she accused Blair of being "obsessed with his place in history".

Related Topics:
2003 Iraq War - May 12 - Jack Straw - UN Security Council - House of Commons - 10 Downing Street

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Bugging of the UN

On February 26, 2004 Short alleged on the BBC Today radio programme that British spies regularly intercept UN communications, including those of Kofi Annan, its Secretary-General. The revelation came the day after the unexplained dropping of whistleblowing charges against former GCHQ translator Katharine Gun. Reacting to Short's statement, Tony Blair said "I really do regard what Clare Short has said this morning as totally irresponsible, and entirely consistent ." Blair also claimed that Short had put UK security, particularly the security of its spies at risk. The same day, on the BBC's Newsnight programme, Short called Blair's response "pompous" and said that Britain had no need to spy on Kofi Annan. Blair did not explicitly deny the claims but Robin Cook, former Foreign Secretary, wrote that in his experience he would be surprised if the claims were true.

Related Topics:
February 26 - 2004 - BBC - Today - British spies - UN - Kofi Annan - Secretary-General - GCHQ - Katharine Gun - Tony Blair - Newsnight - Robin Cook - Foreign Secretary

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A few days later (on February 29, 2004) Ms Short appeared on ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby programme. She revealed that she had been written to by Britain's senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Andrew Turnbull. Turnbull's confidential letter (which Short showed to Dimbleby, and which was quoted on the programme) formally admonished her for discussing intelligence matters in the media, and threatened "further action" if she did not desist from giving interviews on the issue. Turnbull wrote that she had made claims "which damage the interests of the United Kingdom", and that he was "extremely disappointed". The "further action" referred to in the letter has been interpreted as threatening either the removal of Short's status as a Privy Counsellor or to legal action under the Official Secrets Act. Either course of action would be without recent precedent; the last time a Privy Counsellor's status was revoked was in 1921 when Sir Edgar Speyer was removed from the list of who was accused of collaborating with the Germans during the First World War http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=496543. However, on March 1 2004, Tony Blair's official spokesman refused to rule out such a step.

Related Topics:
February 29 - 2004 - ITV - Jonathan Dimbleby - Cabinet Secretary - Andrew Turnbull - Privy Counsellor - Edgar Speyer - First World War - March 1

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