Insight with Clare Short

Clare Short, the former cabinet minister who resigned over the war in Iraq, talks to Richard Beeston about Iraq, her time as Secretary for International Development and the role of Britain in the international arena.

Clare Short MP is currently the Independent Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood. She was first elected as a Labour MP in 1983.

Short was Secretary for International Development from 1997 until she resigned in May 2003 over the Iraq war.

In October 2006, Short announced she would give up the Labour whip in Parliament, although she did not resign as a member of the Labour Party.

Since she left the government, she has been fiercely critical of the Prime Minister Tony Blair for his role in taking the country to war.

Richard Beeston is the Diplomatic editor of The Times.