Editing Clare Short (section)

==Political career==
===Member of Parliament===
[[File:"After Dark", 2 February 1991, "Counting the Cost of a Free Press".jpg|300px|left|thumb|Appearing on television discussion ''[[After Dark (TV programme)|After Dark]]'' "Counting the Cost of a Free Press" in 1991]]
At the start of her career, she was firmly on the left-wing of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. She gained some notoriety shortly after her election in 1983 when she implied the government's Employment minister [[Alan Clark]] was drunk at the [[despatch box]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/interviews/something-profound-has-been-lost|title=Something profound has been lost. {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11|date=6 February 2010}}</ref> Clark's colleagues on the government benches in turn accused Short of using unparliamentary language and the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Deputy Speaker]], [[Ernest Armstrong (British politician)|Ernest Armstrong]], asked her to withdraw her accusation.<ref>{{cite hansard | url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1983/jul/20/sex-discrimination#S6CV0046P0_19830720_HOC_437 | house=[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] |title=Sex Discrimination| date=20 July 1983 | column_start=483 | column_end=484 }}</ref> Clark later admitted in his diaries that Short had been correct in her assessment.

In 1986, Short introduced a Private Members Bill in the House of Commons which proposed banning ''[[Page 3]]'' photographs of topless models featured in ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' and other British [[Tabloid journalism|tabloid]] newspapers.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/essays/introduction-to-dear-clare|title=Introduction to Dear Clare {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11|date=12 April 1991}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1988/apr/13/indecent-displays-newspapers|title=Indecent Displays (Newspapers)  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=13 April 1988|access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref> In order to ensure her motion would be tabled, she slept in Parliament overnight. For this Private Members Bill, she was nicknamed by The Sun "killjoy Clare" and "Crazy Clare."<ref>'Dear Clare..This is What Women Feel About Page 3, Clare Short, Radius Publishing (1991).</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|title=Women of Westminster : the MPs who changed politics|last=Reeves|first= Rachel|isbn=978-1-78831-677-4|location=London|oclc=1084655208|date = 7 March 2019}}</ref> One paper bought and published alleged photographs of Short in her nightwear from her ex-husband. She stated they were pictures of somebody else's body with her face superimposed.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m88t6 Clare Short, Meeting Myself Coming Back], [[BBC Four]], 29–31 August 2009.</ref> The Sun also sent a busload of Page 3 models to her home where she lived with her elderly mother.<ref name="auto2"/> Clare gave a definitive account of her attitude towards tabloid nudity and the negative role that pornography plays more generally in society in her introduction to the book ''Dear Clare'' (1991), which presents a selection of the many letters of support she received from women in response to her campaign.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=Dear Clare - this is what women feel about page 3|last=Clare.|first=Short|date=1991|publisher=Hutchinson Radius|others=Tunks, Kiri., Hutchinson, Diane.|isbn=0091749158|location=London|oclc=22858719}}</ref>

She supported [[John Prescott]] in the [[1988 Labour Party deputy leadership election|Labour Party deputy leadership election in 1988]] (against [[Eric Heffer]] and the incumbent [[Roy Hattersley]]), leaving the [[Socialist Campaign Group]], along with [[Margaret Beckett]], as a result of [[Tony Benn]]'s decision to challenge [[Neil Kinnock]] for the party leadership. She supported [[Margaret Beckett]] for the [[1994 Labour Party leadership election|Labour leadership in 1994]] against [[Tony Blair]] and [[John Prescott]]. She also called for the withdrawal of British troops from [[Northern Ireland]].

In 1989 she raised the issue of abuse of police procedure and fabrication of evidence at the [[West Midlands Serious Crime Squad]], relaying concerns of Birmingham solicitors that many miscarriages of justice had taken place.<ref>{{citation |last1=Hansard|title=West Midlands Serious Crime Squad, HC Debate |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1989/jan/25/west-midlands-serious-crime-squad |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |pages=1155–60|volume=145 |date=January 1989a}}</ref>

She rose through the ranks of the Labour [[Front Bench]], despite twice resigning from it – over the [[Prevention of Terrorism Act (Northern Ireland)|Prevention of Terrorism Act]] in 1988, and over the [[Gulf War]] in 1990. She became [[Shadow Minister for Women]] (1993–1995), [[Shadow Transport Secretary]] (1995–1996) and Opposition Spokesperson for Overseas Development (1996–1997).<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/biography|title=Biography {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref> Clare was also a member of Labour's [[National Executive Committee of the Labour Party|National Executive Committee]] (NEC) from 1988 to 1997 and Chair of the NEC's Women's Committee (1993–1996).<ref name="auto1"/> At the 1995 Labour Party conference, Short denounced [[Liz Davies]] as "unsuitable" after Davies had been selected as a Parliamentary candidate by a constituency Labour Party in Leeds North-East. This was seen as an attempt to win the favour of the right-wing of the party, especially then-leader [[Tony Blair]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2000/no3_seddon.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719223445/http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2000/no3_seddon.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2012 |title=British Journalism Review Vol. 11, No. 3, 2000 – The political struggle around Orwell's stapler |publisher=Bjr.org.uk |access-date=7 October 2013 }}</ref> However, in 1996, Short was moved to the Overseas Development portfolio, a move which she saw as a demotion.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071212202213/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2004%2F11%2F14%2Fbosho14.xml&sSheet=%2Farts%2F2004%2F11%2F14%2Fbomain.html A peculiar sort of sacrifice] from ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]''.</ref> Short also called for the [[legalisation of cannabis]].

===Secretary of State for International Development===
Following the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], the Overseas Development Administration was given full departmental status as the [[Department for International Development]], with Short as the first [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|cabinet-level]] Secretary of State for International Development.<ref name="auto1"/> She retained this post throughout the first term of the Labour government, and beyond the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]] into the second.

On her appointment to the DfID, journalists asked Short whether she would be "good" (in other words, not cause embarrassment to the government). She replied "I'm going to try to be good but I can't help it, I have to be me."<ref name="STimes">Iain Martin, Maurice Chittenden, "Scots to fore as gentleman Tony completes his team," ''The Sunday Times'' (London); 4 May 1997.</ref> A few months later, the island of [[Montserrat]] (one of the United Kingdom's few remaining overseas territories) was devastated by a volcanic eruption which rendered half the island uninhabitable; when the 4,500 islanders asked for more help from the DfID, Short was reported to have remarked "they will be asking for golden elephants next" and refused to visit the island. This remark caused great offence to the Montserratians and others; Labour MP [[Bernie Grant]] said that "She sounds like a mouthpiece for an old nineteenth century colonial and Conservative government."<ref name="Hibbs">Jon Hibbs, "[https://archive.today/20021128201131/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/08/25/wmon25.html Short calls for an end to Montserrat aid row]", ''Daily Telegraph'', 25 August 1997</ref>

====Land reform in Zimbabwe====
On 6 November 1997, Short sent a letter to [[Kumbirai Kangai]], Minister of Agriculture of [[Zimbabwe]], in which she stated that "we do not accept that Britain has a special responsibility to meet the costs of land purchase in Zimbabwe." She went on to write "We are a new government from diverse backgrounds, without links to former colonial interests. My own origins are Irish and, as you know, we were colonised, not colonisers." In the same letter she did, however, offer qualified support for land reform: "We do recognise the very real issues you face over land reform... we would be prepared to support a programme of land reform that was part of a poverty eradication strategy, but not on any other basis." This letter caused a rift with the Zimbabwean government, which asserted that the [[Lancaster House Agreement]] of 1979 had contained a pledge from the United Kingdom government to assist in [[Land reform in Zimbabwe|land reform]].<ref name="McGreal">Chris McGreal, "Blair's worse than the Tories, says Mugabe," ''Mail and Guardian'' (Johannesburg), 22 December 1997.</ref>

====Position on the arms trade====
In December 1997, Short signed the UK into the Ottawa Convention, banning the production, handling and use of [[anti-personnel mines]].<ref name="Thomas">Mark Thomas, ''As used on the famous Nelson Mendela; Underground adventures in the arms & torture trade'', Ebury Press, 2006.</ref>

In 2001, she wrote that the "ready availability of small arms has a direct and negative impact upon levels of crime and conflict in developing countries. We (the DFID) are supporting various peace building and disarmament initiatives."<ref name="UK Parliament, 2001">"[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmhansrd/vo010207/text/10207w23.htm UK Parliament]". from the UK Parliament.</ref> The following year, she claimed that Britain was "committed to combating small arms availability and misuse."<ref name="UK Parliament, 2002">"[http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020422/text/20422w07 UK Parliament]{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}" from the UK Parliament.</ref>

====Kosovo bombing====
Short approved of the 1999 [[NATO bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia headquarters|NATO bombing of the headquarters of Serbian state television]], in which sixteen media workers were killed and sixteen others wounded, because the station was, as she put it, "a source of propaganda".<ref>{{Cite web |title= Nato defends TV bombing |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/326653.stm |website= BBC News |date= 23 April 1999 |access-date= 11 July 2016 }}</ref>

====Resignation====
On 9 March 2003, Short repeatedly called [[Tony Blair]] "reckless" in a BBC radio interview<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/2845125.stm Clare Short's "reckless" interview] from the [[BBC]].</ref> and threatened to resign from the Cabinet in the event of the UK Government going to war with [[Iraq]] without a clear mandate from the United Nations. This looked set to be a reprise of her previous resignation as party spokesperson during the [[Gulf War]] of 1991 as a protest against the Labour Party's stance, although in 1999 she had publicly supported the [[NATO]] attack on Serbia. However, on 18 March she announced that she would remain in the Cabinet and support the government's resolution in the House of Commons.

Short remained in the Cabinet for two months following her decision to back the [[2003 Iraq War]]. She resigned on 12 May. In her resignation statement in the House of Commons the following day she stated: "In both the run-up to the war and now, I think the UK is making grave errors in providing cover for the US mistakes rather than helping an old friend... American power alone cannot make America safe...  But undermining international law and the authority of the UN creates the risk of instability, bitterness and growing terrorism that will threaten the future for all of us."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/resignation-statement-errors-secrecy-and-control-freakery-clare-short-s-parting-shot-to-blair-538454.html|title=Resignation statement: Errors, secrecy and control freakery - Clare Short's parting shot to Blair|date=13 May 2003|work=The Independent |location=UK|access-date=16 October 2022}}</ref>

Her later, Conservative, successor in the post, [[Andrew Mitchell]], described her as "a brilliant development secretary".<ref name="Bloomfield">{{cite web |last1=Bloomfield |first1=Steve |title=The war on aid: the hidden battle inside Priti Patel's own department |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/the-war-on-aid-the-hidden-battle-inside-priti-patels-own-department |access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref>

===Backbenches===
====Bugging of the UN====
{{Main|Spying on the United Nations}}
On 26 February 2004, Short alleged on the [[BBC]] ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' radio programme that [[MI6|British spies]] regularly intercept UN communications, including those of [[Kofi Annan]], then [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]].<ref name="bbc-20040301">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3488548.stm|title=UK 'spied on UN's Kofi Annan'|date=26 February 2004|publisher=BBC  |access-date=23 April 2008}}</ref> The claim was made the day after the unexplained dropping of [[whistleblowing]] charges against former [[GCHQ]] translator [[Katharine Gun]]. Reacting to Short's statement, [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Tony Blair]] said "I really do regard what Clare Short has said this morning as totally irresponsible, and entirely consistent [with Short's character]." Blair also claimed that Short had put British security, particularly the security of its spies, at risk.<ref name="guardian-20040226">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/feb/26/iraq.iraq|title=Short claims UK spied on Annan|author=George Wright, Martin Nicholls and Matthew Tempest|date=26 February 2004|work=The Guardian |location=UK|access-date=23 April 2008}}</ref> The same day, on the BBC's ''[[Newsnight]]'' programme, Short called Blair's response "pompous" and said that Britain had no need to spy on [[Kofi Annan]]. Blair did not explicitly deny the claims, but [[Robin Cook]], the former [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]], wrote that in his experience he would be surprised if the claims were true.

A few days later, on 29 February, Short appeared on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]'s ''[[Jonathan Dimbleby (TV series)|Jonathan Dimbleby]]'' programme, on which she revealed that she had been written to by Britain's most senior civil servant, [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]] [[Andrew Turnbull, Baron Turnbull|Andrew Turnbull]]. Turnbull's confidential letter (which Short showed to Dimbleby, and which was quoted on the programme) formally admonished her for discussing intelligence matters in the media, and threatened "further action" if she did not desist from giving interviews on the issue. Turnbull wrote that she had made claims "which damage the interests of the United Kingdom", and that he was "extremely disappointed". The "further action" referred to in the letter has been interpreted as threatening either Short's expulsion from the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] or legal action under the Official Secrets Act. Either course of action have been without recent precedent; at the time, no Privy Counsellor had been expelled since [[Sir Edgar Speyer]] was accused of collaborating with the Germans during the [[First World War]]. On 1 March 2004, a Downing Street spokesman refused to rule out such a step.

However, in the same interview with [[Jonathan Dimbleby]], Short backtracked on her claim about British agents bugging Annan. She admitted that the transcripts she saw of Annan's private conversations might have related to Africa and not to Iraq.
Asked whether she could confirm that the transcripts related to Iraq, she said: "I can't, but there might well have been ... I cannot remember a specific transcript in relation, it doesn't mean it wasn't there." Short also admitted that her original claim, on the ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' programme, that Britain had eavesdropped on Annan, may have been inaccurate. Asked whether the material could have passed to the British by the Americans, she said: "It could. But it normally indicates that. But I can't remember that."<ref name="guardian-20040301">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1159241,00.html|title=Top civil servant tells Short to shut up|author=Nicholas Watt|date=1 March 2004|work=The Guardian |location=UK|access-date=23 April 2008}}</ref>

====Book====
Clare Short's book, ''An Honourable Deception?: New Labour, Iraq, and the Misuse of Power'', was released by [[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] in November 2004.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An honourable deception? : New Labour, Iraq, and the misuse of power|last=Clare.|first=Short|date=2005|publisher=Free|isbn=0743263936|location=London|oclc=58050529}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Sawhney|first=Hirsh|title=Blair's House of Cards: Clare Short in conversation with Hirsh Sawhney|journal=The Brooklyn Rail|date=June 2006|url=http://brooklynrail.org/2006/06/express/blairs-house-of-cards}}</ref>  It was an account of her career in [[New Labour]], most notably her relationship with Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]], the relationship between Blair and [[Gordon Brown]] and the build-up to the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]. The book won Channel 4's Political Book of the Year Award for 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/books|title=Books {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref>

In December 2004, Short was reportedly critical of US efforts to dispense aid to countries devastated by [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|a tsunami caused by a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean]]. She was quoted as stating that the formation of a group of countries led by the United States for this purpose was a challenge to the role of the United Nations, which she believed was uniquely qualified for the task.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

====Statements on Israel====
[[Image:Clare Short, Birmingham for Gaza, January 2009.jpg|thumb|Short speaking at a rally in Birmingham in January 2009, urging the crowd "not forget the crimes being committed against the people of Gaza" following the [[2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict]]]]
Short has condemned Israel as being guilty of "bloody, brutal and systematic annexation of land, destruction of homes and the deliberate creation of an apartheid system." She has also stated that "the EU and Britain are colluding in this operation and the building of a new apartheid regime" because they give Israel privileged trade access.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0626/breaking53.htm | newspaper=The Irish Times | title=Britain 'colluding' in Israel oppression | date=6 June 2007}}</ref>
Short has expressed support for a boycott of Israel, stating at the 2007 United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace that "The boycott worked for South Africa, it is time to do it again".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3444096,00.html |title=UN summit: Boycott Israel |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=7 October 2013|last1=Lappin |first1=Yaakov }}</ref><ref>[http://www.ejpress.org/article/19622 Controversial UN-sponsored conference on Palestinians denounces Israeli occupation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823210049/http://www.ejpress.org/article/19622|date=23 August 2013}} from the [[European Jewish Press]].</ref> She also told the conference that Israel is "much worse than the original apartheid state" and that Israel "undermines the international community's reaction to global warming".<ref>{{cite book | title=Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=Anthony Julius | author-link = Anthony Julius |year=2010| page=752| title-link=Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England }}</ref><ref name=Wistrich2010p541>[[Robert S. Wistrich]] (2010). ''A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad''. [[Random House]]. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6097-9}}. p. 541.</ref>

====Relationship with al-Manar Television====

According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', Short accepted £1,580 worth of flights, hotel accommodation, food and travel expenses from [[al-Manar]] Television in [[Lebanon]] in 2008. Al-Manar is described by the US government as "the media arm of the Hezbollah terrorist network", and was classed as a specially designated terrorist entity by the US in 2006.

Short said her trip had been registered with Commons authorities and that the visit allowed her to see how reconstruction in southern Lebanon was proceeding after the country's conflict with Israel in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|author=James Ball |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/mar/25/mps-middle-east-regimes-hospitality |title=MPs accepted Middle East regimes' hospitality 107 times in a decade |newspaper=Guardian |date= 25 March 2011|access-date=7 October 2013 |location=London}}</ref>

====Announced retirement====
On 12 September 2006, Short announced that she would not be standing at the next general election.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Deedes |first=Henry |date=13 September 2006 |title=Short to stand down after 23 years as an MP |work=The Independent |location=UK |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article1523109.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=23 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118144636/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article1523109.ece |archive-date=18 January 2008 |df=dmy}}</ref> In a brief statement, Short said she was "ashamed" of [[Tony Blair]]'s government and backed [[proportional representation]], which she hoped would be achieved through a [[hung parliament]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tempest |first1=Matthew |last2=Mulholland |first2=Hélène |date=14 September 2006 |title=Short faces expulsion after calling for hung parliament |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/sep/14/labour.constitution |access-date=12 April 2014}}</ref> The Labour Party [[Chief Whip]] referred the matter to the Labour Party National Executive Committee to consider disciplinary action.<ref name="Guardian standing">"[https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,1872266,00.html Short faces expulsion after calling for hung parliament]", Guardian, 12 September 2006.</ref> On Friday 20 October, Short resigned the Labour [[Whip (politics)|whip]] and announced that she would sit as an Independent Labour MP.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/letters/clare-short-plp-resignation|title=Clare Short's letter of resignation from the Parliamentary Labour Party. {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11|date=21 October 2006}}</ref><ref name="Epolitix-whip">"{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185347/http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200610/c7a60196-e6c7-4812-b4cc-9034254e31b7.htm Short resigns Labour whip]}}", Epolitix.com, 20 October 2006.</ref> Short received a written reprimand from Labour's [[Chief Whip]] shortly before the news of her resignation of the party whip was announced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/news/tm_method=full&objectid=17918657&siteid=50002-name_page.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714180500/http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/news/tm_method=full&objectid=17918657&siteid=50002-name_page.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |title=Written reprimand means Short won't be thrown out |publisher=Icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk |access-date=7 October 2013 }}</ref>

After [[Gordon Brown]] succeeded [[Tony Blair]] as Prime Minister, Short said that the change offered "a new beginning", and hinted that she might re-join the parliamentary Labour Party if Brown changed the policies that had caused her to leave.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6252430.stm |title=Short hints at return to Labour |work=BBC News |date=29 June 2007 |access-date=7 October 2013}}</ref>

====Chilcot Inquiry====
On 2 February 2010, Short [[List of witnesses of The Iraq Inquiry#February 2|appeared before]] the [[Chilcot Inquiry]] into Iraq. During this she repeatedly criticised [[Tony Blair]], Attorney General [[Peter Goldsmith]] and others in the UK Government for allegedly deceiving her and other MPs in an attempt to obtain consent for the invasion of Iraq.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/feb/02/clare-short-warned-tony-blair Clare Short: Tony Blair lied and misled parliament in build-up to Iraq war]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/articles/the-chilcot-report-will-not-give-people-what-they-want|title=The Chilcot Report will not give the people what they want. {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11|date=5 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clareshort.org/articles/blair-misled-the-country-over-iraq|title=Blair misled the country over Iraq. Something similar could happen again. {{!}} Clare Short|website=www.clareshort.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-08-11|date=7 July 2016}}</ref>