Short launches stinging attack on PM
The former International Development Secretary Clare Short has launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair following her decision to resign from the cabinet over Iraq.
Delivering her resignation statement to the Commons this afternoon, Ms Short warned the Labour leader that he was in danger of destroying his legacy as prime minister by becoming “increasingly obsessed by his place in history”.
“There is much that our government has achieved, which reflects Labour’s values and of which we can be very proud”, the MP for Birmingham Ladywood told MPs.
“But we are entering rockier times, and we must work together to prevent our government from departing from the best values of the party”.
In a ten-minute statement, Ms Short alluded several times to what she insisted to be the centralisation of power into the hands of the prime minister and “an increasingly small number of advisors”.
Cabinet had become “a dignified part of the constitution”, she maintained, adding: “There is no real collective responsibility because there is no collective, just diktats in favour of increasingly badly thought through policy that come from on high”.
“Those who dictate from the centre do not have access to full expertise and they do not consult – this leads to bad policy”.
The resigning minister also warned that the “style and organisation” of the Government was undermining trust and straining party loyalty “in a way that is completely unnecessary”
A “control freak style” during the party’s first term in office had created many of the problems of excessive bureaucracy and centralised targets which she claimed to be undermining the success of Labour’s public sector reforms.
Speculation about Ms Short’s future had been growing after she missed the high publicity Parliamentary vote on Foundation Hospitals last week.
The outspoken minister had been highly critical of the Government’s decision to go to war in Iraq without a second UN resolution. She had threatened to quit and called the Prime Minister ‘reckless’ in his actions.
However, she was persuaded to stay on by the Prime Minister who argued that her role in the development of Iraq would be her most important job yet.
A spokesperson from Downing Street confirmed that Ms Short had phoned Tony Blair this morning saying that she could no longer continue in the Government.
In her resignation letter, the International Development Secretary accused Mr Blair and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw of breaking assurances that were given to her that the UN would have a large role to play in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Ms Short wrote: ‘As you know, I thought the run-up to the conflict in Iraq was mishandled, but I agreed to stay in the government to help support the reconstruction effort for the people of Iraq.
‘I am afraid that the assurances you gave me about the need for a UN mandate to establish a legitimate Iraqi government have been breached.’
Ms Short accused Mr Blair and Mr Straw of negotiating a UN resolution which contradicted what she had told Parliament and made her position ‘impossible’.
The Government has appointed Baroness Amos as International Development Secretary as a replacement to Ms Short.
Hilary Benn has been appointed Minister of State in the department, and will be the Government’s spokesman on international development in the House of Commons.
