Short faces disciplinary action
Clare Short faced disciplinary action last night after she called for the public to withdraw their support for some Labour MPs to create a hung parliament.
Labour chief whip Jacqui Smith said the former international development secretary’s comments were “completely unacceptable”.
Fellow MPs also lined up to condemn Ms Short, with Khalid Mahmood saying there was “absolutely no excuse” for her remarks and she was being “disloyal”.
However, Ms Short was unrepentant, saying: “I will pay whatever price because, in the end, you shouldn’t be in politics if you can’t speak your truth.”
The MP for Birmingham Ladywood announced in an article for The Independent that she would quit parliament at the next general election to campaign for a hung parliament.
This would mean neither Labour nor the Conservatives had a majority, and effectively means she would campaign for the public to vote against her party in some areas.
She also launched an attack on Tony Blair’s leadership, saying his foreign policy in particular had made her “profoundly ashamed of the government”.
In a statement, Ms Smith said: “Clare Short’s public admission that she would welcome the defeat of her Labour parliamentary colleagues and the Labour government at the next general election is completely unacceptable.
“I have previously made this clear to her. As chief whip, I can recommend the whip be withdrawn from parliamentary colleagues or suspend them from the whip.
“However, Clare Short’s comments and actions are so serious, I am now taking the matter further by referring her conduct to the general secretary of the Labour party.”
Speaking on Channel Four News last night, fellow Birmingham MP Mr Mahmood said Ms Short, like all Labour MPs, owed her career to Mr Blair and his party.
“The party is bigger than all of us. It is a party that has a manifesto and it is a party that gets us elected,” he said.
“For her to be disloyal not just to the party but all those members and constituents who over the last 20 years have supported her in the way they have done.I think will absolutely be sick to the back teeth of the hypocrisy she has played today.”
