Editing Clare Short (section)

===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>