Short survives Iraq outburst

By ANNE McHARDY Herald correspondent

LONDON - A day after describing Tony Blair's conduct of the threatened war on Iraq as "reckless" with regard to himself, the Labour Party and Britain, Overseas Development Secretary Clare Short, was still a member of his Government.

To the astonishment of Westminster, Short, who said on BBC radio that she would resign from the Government if the Prime Minister took the country to war without a second United Nations resolution, was not sacked for her outburst.

As the day wore on, the roll call of those more junior members of the Government prepared publicly to back her and say they were considering their own positions suggested that Blair would find ousting her too risky.

The image of Short, wrapped in a red shawl, striding through Westminster, followed by a posse of like-minded former Government members was not one Blair could savour.

Several other ministers expressed their amazement that she had spoken on radio apparently without forewarning Downing St.

In a feeble attempt to explain, several suggested that Blair was too preoccupied with his conduct of the Iraq affair to concern himself with Short.

However, on a day when he gave several hours to talking to a panel of women on television about the threat of war, the outspoken criticism from a woman as powerful and as widely respected - particularly within the Labour Party - as Short was obviously important to his strategy.

His aim is to persuade Britain that war - on US terms, not those of the United Nations - is reasonable.

He said repeatedly to the women that there was information he had that he could not share that strengthened his determination.



Blair was savaged during the TV programme. One woman had lost her only son in the World Trade Centre; another had lost her boyfriend in Bali. Neither would allow Blair any quarter.

Both said they wanted no other family, in or outside Iraq, to suffer the grief they felt. At the end, several of them slow-handclapped him.

The rift within the Labour Party over the Blair's Iraq policy is continuing to widen, with local constituency parties taking votes on contributions to the Stop the War Coalition, with more MPs saying they will vote "no" in any future House of Commons debate if there is no second resolution.

Meanwhile Short is still in her post.

Sacking her would simply escalate the problems inside the party.