Short broadside: Blair allies rally

Senior Cabinet colleagues have rallied to Tony Blair's defence in the face of Clare Short's call for him to quit Downing Street.

They insisted that Ms Short's view that it was time for Mr Blair to go had little support among Labour MPs, and warned that it would be folly to try to unseat the most successful leader in the party's history.

Ms Short, who resigned as International Development Secretary over the Iraq war and accused the Prime Minister of leading Britain into the conflict on the basis of half truths and deceptions, warned Mr Blair he was losing touch with Labour's grassroots.

Criticising his policies on foundation hospitals and student top-up fees, she advised him to leave office before the situation got "nastier".

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling warned Ms Short that she risked "downgrading" her achievements in office by her continuing attacks on Mr Blair.

Mr Darling said his former Cabinet colleague was not speaking for a significant proportion of Labour MPs.

Interviewed on BBC 1's Breakfast with Frost programme, Mr Darling was asked what he thought Ms Short was trying to achieve.

He said: "I don't know. She has said it before. I don't think it has got any support. Frankly it doesn't surprise me.

"Frankly what she is saying I don't think has got much sympathy in the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) or anywhere else for that matter."

He added: "Yes we are going through a bit of turbulence just now. But I think by the time of the next election people will see what we have delivered on the public services ... They will have a choice between us and whether or not they want Iain Duncan Smith and his crew back in."

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