She quit the cabinet and her position as international development secretary in protest of Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war. She was famously joined by former foreign secretary and the now deceased, Robin Cook. At least he came across as being rational and reasonable. Clare Short apparently had moral objections to the Iraq war and to Britain‘s foreign policy.
Short thinks Tony Blair has dishonored the UK, undermined the UN and international law and helped to make the world a more dangerous place. She also thinks New Labor lacks principles and is arrogant. All of these accusations might be perfectly true. But Clare Short can’t escape the fact that she was part of the New Labor project and fully enjoyed the fruits of its electoral victory. She went along with political spin, was happy to get into the Cabinet and supported the “ dishonorable” Tony Blair. Also, Tony Blair’s support for the US is nothing new. He did so from day one.
The whole special relationship with the US has been a cornerstone of British foreign policy since Winston Churchill instituted it during world war two. As for being immoral, what did Clare Short think foreign aid was all about? To help the world’s poor? No, it’s just another instrument of foreign policy and is there to influence a poor country to support the UK and to help indirectly promote commercial interests.
Clare Short’s political goal is apparently to get a hung parliament. Whether that happens or not will have little to do with her. If anything Clare Short comes over as having lost it, not to mention a just a tad hypocritical.
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