Short changes her mind on resignation

By MARIE WOOLF

LONDON - Clare Short's version of events goes like this. She was writing her resignation statement when suddenly she decided to stay in her job.

Having nearly completed the draft valediction she thought: "We've got to look after the people in Iraq, we've got to drive forward the peace process to get the Palestinian state, we've got to make sure there's not a humanitarian disaster."

Resignation, concluded the Secretary of State for International Development would be "cheap" and a "cowardly to go away".

This account by Ms Short of why she was so spectacularly reneging on her public promise to quit the cabinet over the Iraq crisis left her an isolated and humiliated figure at Westminster today.

Ministers and backbench Labour MPs - many of them anti-war - queued up to accuse her of "self interest" and "inconsistency."

"She has done Tony Blair a service by staying, but she looks silly," said one senior government source.

Tam Dalyell, the MP for Llinlithgow and Father of the House, said he was not "in the least surprised" by her decision to stay. "It's par for the course," he said.

Other Labour rebels said she had lost her credibility and had made an "unprincipled decision." Graham Allen, Labour MP for Nottingham North, who has orchestrated the back bench rebellion, could scarcely disguise his contempt: "I have NO comment to make about Clare Short," he said.

In the Westminster lobbies today, MPs were not won over by a letter Ms Short had circulated to Labour MPs outlining her reasons for resigning. She said she had been reassured that munitions, like cluster bombs and depleted uranium, would not be rained down on the Iraqi people.

But few were convinced by her conversion to the cause of war. As she took her place on the front bench today, Patricia Hewitt, the Trade and Industry Secretary, and Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, looked deeply annoyed.

They had publicly criticised her open display of disloyalty to Tony Blair last week . While she had taken to the airwaves, other cabinet ministers with profound worries about the policy on Iraq had kept silent in the Government's interest.

In a series of interviews yesterday Ms Short revealed that she was prepared for "a really hard time" if she did not resign.

"I know that I will be vilified. It is easier to go. I would be more popular if I went, but the truth is I would be copping out," she told the BBC.

She explained she had been convinced to stay and vote for military action because her concerns about government policy had been addressed.

Yesterday she said she still believed the "approach to the crisis could have been better handled earlier." But she now wanted to play a part in orchestrating the humanitarian effort in Iraq after military action.

"The things I have complained about, there has been movement on," she said.

Ms Short said she had been reassured by two "very detailed" presentations by the military, which had persuaded her the armed forces would be "enormously careful" in targeting to avoid unnecessary civilian suffering.

She said she also felt reassured by the Attorney General's judgment that a military strike without a second UN resolution was legal under international law.

Ms Short was now convinced the UN would be in charge of rebuilding Iraq after the bombing. The MP for Birmingham Ladywood, attracted widespread criticism last week when, in a radio interview, she accused the Prime Minister of pursuing a "reckless" policy and threatened to resign.

She revealed today that in a meeting with Tony Blair, after her outburst, she had offered to step down.

"I offered my resignation after the 'reckless' remarks and he said no," she told the BBC.

"He said to me yesterday 'You can be a very awkward person but I want you to stay. We need you for this'. That is his view."

Ms Short denied she was staying to "please" Tony Blair.

"I am doing it because I think it is what I ought to do but obviously I would have resigned if it was what he wanted me to do," she said.

Today there was doubt about whether the Cabinet would put up with another outburst from Clare Short. Even Gordon Brown, her most powerful ally who has worked diligently behind the scenes to get her to stay, may not be able to prevent her becoming a casualty of a summer reshuffle.

Ms Short appeared pessimistic about her long-term future in Government. She said in a frank interview with Channel Four news that Tony Blair had told her he wanted her to 'stay for the reconstruction of Iraq."

"I mean, I might well get booted out afterwards, that doesn't matter," she said. "I'm not in this for (my) career or anything else, I'm trying to do what's right."


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Herald Feature: Iraq