Short receives written reprimand

Thursday, 18 March 2004 12:00 AM

Former International Development Secretary Clare Short will receive a written warning for her multiple broadsides against the Prime Minister and claim that Britain bugged the offices of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Although Ms Short originally backed down on the threat to quit the Cabinet if Britain went to war without a second UN resolution, she eventually resigned at the failure to give the UN a role in post-conflict Iraq.

From that time on, she has continually harried the government over the "illegal war."

And last month, Ms Short said she had read transcripts of conversations between UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and other officials in the run up to war in Iraq.

Tony Blair said the allegations were "deeply irresponsible."

Ms Short could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for divulging the information.

She received a letter - which she later went public on - from Cabinet Secretary Andrew Turnbull, in which he said he was "extremely disappointed" by her actions.

"I very much regret that you see fit to make claims which damage the interests of the United Kingdom," he wrote.

Pundits believe her reprimand stopped short of expulsion as the move would make her a "martyr" among leftwing backbenchers.

Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong will now write to Ms Short to remind her of the "responsibilities" under the code of conduct.

Ian McCartney, Labour party chairman, recently scolded the firebrand Birmingham Ladywood MP for a "significant error of judgement."

The warning came from Labour's Parliamentary Committee. The Committee is chaired by Jean Corston and is comprised of government ministers and backbenchers. Mr Blair was absent from the meeting.

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