The Hindu : U.K. Minister threatens to quit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 11, 2003

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U.K. Minister threatens to quit

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON MARCH 10. The political crisis facing the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, over Iraq deepened today after one of his most high-profile Cabinet Ministers — the International Development Secretary, Claire Short, — threatened to resign if he went to war with Baghdad without a second U.N. resolution.

Ms. Short stunned Downing Street with an extraordinary attack on Mr. Blair's Iraqi stance calling it "reckless" and in "breach" of international law. Even by her own standards of outspokenness, the attack was unprecedented and the Prime Minister's Office was reported to be furious. This morning, there was even speculation that she might be sacked but Mr. Blair held back, apparently fearing a backlash from the party where Ms. Short is highly regarded.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman told journalists that Mr. Blair had been "surprised" by Ms. Short's remarks. The issue was discussed at a meeting Mr. Blair had with the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, and the Labour Party chairman, John Reid, but details were not known. The official line was that the Government would not be "diverted" from its efforts to get enough support for a second resolution. It was even willing to water down the resolution.

The timing of Ms. Short's defiant remarks — "ten minutes to midnight", as she put it — was considered significant, particularly as they came shortly after the resignation of a ministerial aide amid threats of more resignations from the junior rungs of the Government.

Blair-ites denounced her remarks as "outrageous" and a "diversion" at a time when the Prime Minister was engaged in diplomatic efforts to get the second resolution passed. But for the swelling ranks of anti-war Labour MPs, her intervention was a shot in the arm and likely to put more pressure on the Government to seek a vote in Parliament before plunging the country into a war. Up to 200 Labour MPs were reported to be inclined to revolt if Mr. Blair backed a war which did not have a U.N. mandate.

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