Short’s cabinet future ‘hanging in balance’
Prime Minister Tony Blair has demanded an inquiry into Clare Short’s failure to attend a crucial Commons vote on foundation hospitals in the Health and Social Care Bill and her conspicuous absence from Cabinet yesterday.
Her ministerial position as a result appears assailable, the Guardian reports.
According to the paper, the PM asked Hilary Armstrong, chief whip, to investigate Ms. Short’s absence from Wednesday evening’s crunch vote, which saw 65 backbenchers go against the Government.
A spokeswoman for the international development secretary said her absence was due to a ‘competing engagement’ and reported that her failure to vote was due to a ‘genuine mistake.’
‘Clare Short thought the vote was at 10pm [rather than the new time of 7pm]. She was heading there but it was too late. She heard on the radio that the vote had happened. She was intending to vote with the government’, the spokeswoman said.
Ms. Short’s exit from Cabinet has been of continued speculation for some time after she criticised the PM’s ‘reckless’ strategy on Iraq.
