John Ray
Blair gets a Short, sharp shock
Wed May 14 01:53:41 2003
208.152.73.159

Along with many colleagues in the international aid community, I rejoiced at the news of Clare Short's appointment as international development secretary in 1997 (It's time for Tony Blair to go, May 13). I have been deeply disappointed to see the department, with which I have been associated for over 30 years, fall from its status as a beacon on the international scene.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/comment/0,9236,955564,00.html

Blair gets a Short, sharp shock

Clare Short, the former international development secretary, making her resignation speech in the House of Commons yesterday.
http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=544472003&tid=849

JASON BEATTIE CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

AN EMBITTERED Clare Short quit the government yesterday, and unleashed a tirade against Tony Blair, accusing the Prime Minister of endangering Labour’s achievements through his "obsessive" pursuit of a place in history, and called on him to quit.

In a damning resignation statement which dissected the failings of Mr Blair’s premiership, Ms Short painted a picture of a presidential leader whose dictatorial style was damaging the party and creating "bad policy".

And in a newspaper interview published today, she twisted the knife further, saying an "elegant succession" should by organised to "keep up the quality of the government".

She added: "I think Tony Blair has enormous achievements under his belt, and it would be sad if he hung on and spoiled his reputation."

The MP for Birmingham Ladywood left the Commons spellbound yesterday as she detailed why she had decided to resign after six years as international development secretary.

Ostensibly, Ms Short had quit in protest at the draft United Nations resolution tabled by Britain and the United States, setting out the plans for post-conflict Iraq. But in her statement she gave vent to a catalogue of grievances about the government and Mr Blair.
‘The Prime Minister ... is in danger of destroying his legacy as he becomes increasingly obsessed by his place in history.’

In the most acrimonious resignation statement since Geoffrey Howe used his valedictory speech to savage Margaret Thatcher in 1990, Ms Short described a government where policies were made in private by advisers to Mr Blair and imposed on departments.

"There is no real collective responsibility because there is no collective, just diktats in favour of increasingly badly thought-through policy initiatives that come from on high," she told MPs.

Although her resignation had been predicted since she accused Mr Blair of being "deeply reckless" in the run-up to military action against Iraq, there was shock and anger at the bitterness of Ms Short’s departure.

Ms Short told the Commons: "Increasingly, those who are wielding power are not accountable and not scrutinised. Thus we have the powers of a presidential-type system with the automatic majority of a parliamentary system.

"My conclusion is that these arrangements are leading to increasingly poor policy initiatives being rammed through parliament - straining and abusing party loyalty and undermining the people’s respect for our political system."

There was also a clear indication that Ms Short was preparing to use the freedom of the back-benches to harry the government as it tried to reform the public sector. In a rallying cry for the public-service ethos, she called for an end to the "endless new initiatives, layers of bureaucratic accountability and diktats from the centre".
‘There is no real collective responsibility because there is no collective, just diktats.’

This was followed by a personal assault on the character and leadership of Mr Blair, which could strike a chord with those in the party uncomfortable with the leadership.

Ms Short told stunned MPs that if Labour’s first term had been characterised by spin and control freakery, the second term was centralisation of power into the hands of the Prime Minister and an increasingly small number of advisers.

"There is much our government has achieved which reflects Labour’s values and of which we can be very proud. But we are entering rockier times and we must work together to prevent our government departing from the best values of the party.

"To the Prime Minister, I would say that he has achieved great things since 1997, but, paradoxically, he is in danger of destroying his legacy as he becomes increasingly obsessed by his place in history."

Ms Short’s critique of her leader overshadowed her complaints about the UN process which had caused her to resign. She questioned the legality of the Iraqi conflict, accusing the government of acting outside the advice of the attorney general, and added:

"I am ashamed that the government has agreed the resolution tabled in New York and shocked by the secrecy and lack of consultation with departments with direct responsibility for the issues referred to in the resolution."

Baroness Valerie Amos became Britain’s first black woman Cabinet minister when she was named as the replacement for Ms Short, who follows Robin Cook as Cabinet ministers to resign over Iraq.

Downing Street tried to play down the implications of Ms Short’s departure, praising her work and denying she had been excluded from the discussion process leading to the tabling of the draft resolution.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, told MPs "every action" undertaken by the coalition forces in Iraq had been legal.

He said: "Every action we have taken in Iraq is consistent with the undertakings we have given in public and all actions we have taken have been taken strictly in accordance with legal advice."

Other senior Labour MPs rushed to support Mr Blair amid fears the populist MP could prompt a dangerous uprising among Labour back-benchers.

Other party members were furious at the self-indulgent tone of her speech, fearing it would offer ammunition to the Tory charge that Labour was split "from top to bottom".

George Foulkes, who had served as Ms Short’s deputy, said she would have had more credibility had she resigned when she first raised doubts about the planned Iraqi conflict.

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The verdict on Clare Short
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=usa&q=Clare+Short&btnG=Search+News

Clare versus Blair
http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=294362003&tid=849   

• Clare Short’s parting shot to Tony Blair — APFN, Wed May 14 02:02
• It’s time for Blair to quit: Clare Short — APFN, Wed May 14 02:05