Clare Short At The Herbert -- 28th February

Clare Short, MP for Birmingham-Ladywood, will be speaking at the Herbert Art Gallery on the 28th of February, at 530pm.

Coventry Stop the War thinks it would be a good idea if we all attended to hold her feet to the fire over why she didn't resign from the cabinet before the Iraq invasion (a la Robin Cook and John Denham).

Short cited the decision of America, under British pressure, to publish the roadmap to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005 as a critical factor in her decision not to resign. Well, that worked out well.

"The targeting is enormously careful to go for the things that will help the military and not the people." Much of the military action would involve stabilising the country, keeping people fed, she argued. "It is highly likely that the military action will be over in a matter of weeks, [my emphasis] that the Iraqi forces will crumble very quickly because this is a very nasty regime and its people do not like it."

It's also interesting, looking back at BBC reports of the time, that major aid charities were urging her to stay in her post, to ensure a humanitanian focus to after-the-war aid efforts.