This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6069710.stm
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Clare Short resigns as Labour MP | Clare Short resigns as Labour MP |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Clare Short has resigned as a Labour MP and will sit as an independent for the remainder of this parliament. | Clare Short has resigned as a Labour MP and will sit as an independent for the remainder of this parliament. |
| Ms Short has already said she will quit as an MP at the next general election. | |
| In a letter to Labour's chief whip, the Birmingham Ladywood MP accuses Tony Blair of telling "half-truths and deceits to get us to war in Iraq". | |
| The former Cabinet minister also accused the government of being "arrogant and error prone" and repeated her call for a hung parliament. | |
| Ms Short told BBC News 24 that it took her a week to write the letter: "It was a very sad, big thing for me". | |
| She said she decided to resign the whip because she could "not go on being rebuked every week". | |
| I am sorry it has come to this Clare Short In full: Resignation letter What is a party whip? | I am sorry it has come to this Clare Short In full: Resignation letter What is a party whip? |
| Hung parliament | |
| Ms Short will continue to be a member of the Labour Party but will no longer vote with Labour MPs. | |
| "I am not planning to quit the Labour Party," she told the BBC, adding that she did not want to attack individuals in government but was campaigning to change "the way of government". | |
| She said she will continue to sit in the Commons and "speak the truth as I understand it". | |
| Ms Short was severely reprimanded earlier this month after saying she would campaign for a hung parliament. | |
| Labour's Chief Whip Jacqui Smith said she had breached the Parliamentary Labour Party's code of conduct. | |
| The party decided against expelling the former international development secretary over the remarks. | |
| But in her resignation letter to Ms Smith, released earlier to the BBC, she repeats her claim that a hung parliament would be good for democracy. | |
| "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," writes Ms Short. | "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," writes Ms Short. |
| "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". | "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". |
| Ms Short, 60, also accuses Labour's previous chief whip, social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong, of using 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". | Ms Short, 60, also accuses Labour's previous chief whip, social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong, of using 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". |
| Previous resignations | Previous resignations |
| Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said: "Clare had been pressing for a hung parliament in comments she had made recently, which appeared to be saying that she would hope that some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party would lose their seats. | Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said: "Clare had been pressing for a hung parliament in comments she had made recently, which appeared to be saying that she would hope that some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party would lose their seats. |
| "And I can see that she might take the view that if one's got to a point where one's pressing for people to lose their seats, that would be inconsistent with continuing to take the Labour whip." | "And I can see that she might take the view that if one's got to a point where one's pressing for people to lose their seats, that would be inconsistent with continuing to take the Labour whip." |
| Chancellor Gordon Brown refused to comment but added: "It has been known for some time she wasn't voting with the Labour whip." | Chancellor Gordon Brown refused to comment but added: "It has been known for some time she wasn't voting with the Labour whip." |
| Clare Short has been a vocal critic of Mr Blair's foreign policy and leadership style since quitting as international development secretary in 2003. | Clare Short has been a vocal critic of Mr Blair's foreign policy and leadership style since quitting as international development secretary in 2003. |
| She has resigned from Labour's front bench on three occasions - twice over the Gulf Wars and once over prevention of terrorism laws. | She has resigned from Labour's front bench on three occasions - twice over the Gulf Wars and once over prevention of terrorism laws. |