Mowlam ‘critical but stable’
Former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam is critically ill in hospital, according to reports this afternoon.
The popular former Labour MP for Redcar was admitted to King’s College hospital in London at the weekend and is currently “critical but stable”, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Ms Mowlam, 56, won much admiration for her determination to continue as Northern Ireland secretary despite treatment for a brain tumour, which caused her to lose her hair.
But she is best known for her role in securing the Good Friday agreement, and for the extraordinary visit she paid to the Maze prison in 1998.
She spoke with loyalist and republican prisoners face to face for an hour to persuade them to give the peace process another chance. Two hours later their political representatives announced they had been allowed to rejoin the talks.
Her failure to secure implementation of the agreement brought criticism from the Conservatives, however, and the Ulster Unionists even called for her to be sacked.
She was replaced by Peter Mandelson as Northern Ireland secretary in 1999, and became the Cabinet Office minister, taking responsibility for drug policy and acting as Tony Blair’s cabinet “enforcer”.
Ms Mowlam was the first minister in charge of drugs policy to admit she had tried them, adding that “unlike President Clinton, I did inhale”.
Since standing down as an MP in 2001, Ms Mowlam’s popularity has continued to grow thanks to her openness and reliably outspoken nature, which has seen her calling for talks with al-Qaida and gamely conducting a marriage ceremony for two dogs on a talkshow.
