Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Selling books
Today's Glasgow Herald contains a report from the Edinburgh International Book Festival in which Clare Short is quoted as saying that her disgust with New Labour had made her wonder whether she had wasted her life in politics.
Talking about her book, An Honourable Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power, she told at length of her resignation and her disenchantment with Tony Blair.
Ms Short, the first secretary of state for international development, also revealed that after resigning in May 2003 she thought about standing as an independent candidate, and even considered joining the Liberal Democrats.
She said the current policies of the government made her ponder whether her many years in the Labour movement had been fruitfully spent. Ms Short, who has been MP for Birmingham Ladywood since 1983, said the current government was more right-wing than the Tory administration of Harold Macmillan of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
"I am very isolated," she said. "I have spent my adult life building up the Labour Party as an instrument of justice at home and abroad, but now I think: did I put my life in the right place?"
Ms Short was criticised for not immediately resigning over the war. However, she said the prime minister had made promises to her on Middle East policy and the post-war reconstruction of Iraq. "He was lying to me and I made the mistake of believing him," she said.
It should be noted that Ms. Short is still a New Labour MP supporting the Government she is so disgusted with. Still, it should sell some books.
Talking about her book, An Honourable Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power, she told at length of her resignation and her disenchantment with Tony Blair.
Ms Short, the first secretary of state for international development, also revealed that after resigning in May 2003 she thought about standing as an independent candidate, and even considered joining the Liberal Democrats.
She said the current policies of the government made her ponder whether her many years in the Labour movement had been fruitfully spent. Ms Short, who has been MP for Birmingham Ladywood since 1983, said the current government was more right-wing than the Tory administration of Harold Macmillan of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
"I am very isolated," she said. "I have spent my adult life building up the Labour Party as an instrument of justice at home and abroad, but now I think: did I put my life in the right place?"
Ms Short was criticised for not immediately resigning over the war. However, she said the prime minister had made promises to her on Middle East policy and the post-war reconstruction of Iraq. "He was lying to me and I made the mistake of believing him," she said.
It should be noted that Ms. Short is still a New Labour MP supporting the Government she is so disgusted with. Still, it should sell some books.
