Clare Short quits the Labour whip, citing Blair's deceit
Labour MP Clare Short has resigned from the Labour Party after 23 years, condemning Tony Blair for "half truths and deceits" over the war on Iraq and accusing his Government of being "arrogant" and "error-prone".
Miss Short came under great pressure from the anti-war movement as she threatened to resign from the cabinet if Britain went to war with Iraq, only to be persuaded by Tony Blair to stay. Eventually she resigned claiming that Blair had lied over the reassurances that he had given her in order for her to remain in cabinet. She amplified on this yesterday:
"There is a famous allegation against me that I didn't resign at the time of the war on Iraq. That was because Tony Blair had entered into a negotiation with me to try to get me to stay. I said to him, if you can't stop the war, then what is crucial is we move forward on the road map for the Middle East, and get the Palestinian state established, and we absolutely internationalise the reconstruction. It would be led by the UN and backed by the international community. He promised those things and it wasn't true. He just said that to fool me, but I believed he was sincere." She added: "I still think, even though the rush to war was long, if those things had been done, the Middle East would be an entirely different place and Iraq would be a totally different place than it is today.
"That is the biggest error he has made. It is such a serious problem for the world, it strengthened al-Qa'ida, it strengthened the willingness of people to contemplate the use of violence, it is breaking up the international system at a time when we need more international cooperation than ever to deal with environmental threats and global warming.
Blair has now promised to devote his final months in office to securing a Palestinian state, but it all strikes me as too little too late. The time to turn your attention to Palestine is not when you have one foot out the front door.
A conflict that has raged for sixty years is not going to be resolved by someone who everyone knows is leaving office and doesn't have the time to see such a complicated policy through.
Clare Short is yet another loss to the Labour party, not as profound as the loss of Robin Cook in terms of intellect, but definitely a loss to the soul of old Labour.
Clare Short's Resignation letter to Jacqui Smith, Chief Whip
"I am sorry it has come to this but after a lifetime of service to the Labour Party and 23 years in the House of Commons, I think I am entitled to discuss what has gone wrong with the Government and our political system in my remaining years as an MP.
"It is my view that our political system is in trouble and that the exaggerated majorities in the House of Commons have led to an abject parliament and a concentration of power in Number 10 that has produced arrogant, error-prone government. Given that the next election might well produce a hung parliament, I want to be free to argue that this creates a valuable opportunity to reform our voting system so that the House of Commons more accurately reflects public opinion and we have a parliament more able to hold the Government to account and to ensure that policy is well considered.
"As you know, I am critical of many other aspects of Government policy. The previous Chief Whip tried to use her authority to stop me discussing the fact that the Prime Minister engaged in a series of half-truths and deceits to get us to war in Iraq. You focus on my views on electoral reform. The consequence is a string of rebukes, usually through the media. In the circumstances, I think the best way to ensure that I can put forward my views for my remaining time in Parliament is for me to resign the Whip. I will therefore sit in the House of Commons as an independent Labour MP.
"I remain proud of the history of the Labour Party and a convinced Social Democrat."
Click title for full article.
tag: Iraq, Iraq war, Tony, Blair, cabinet, unity, Clare, Short, Palestine, war on terror, resign, resignation,
2 comments:
An absolute disgrace. Check out her 2005 election leaflet here. I would be outraged if I had voted for her at the last election.
I can't get your link to work. But I wouldn't be outraged had I voted for her at the last election, I would be quite happy that someone had some remaining principles within the party.
She has resigned because she is not allowed to discuss what she sees as the need for change within UK politics. If we can't debate then what's the point of being in politics?
Post a Comment