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Clare Short: "Rushed off her feet"
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Minister fails to show at
Left-wing Cabinet minister Clare Short was due today to take part in a key debate on the role of the left under New Labour. However she failed to turn up.
She did send a note to the conference chair, Nina Temple, apologising she couldn't make it due to pressure of work.
Ms Temple, who is Secretary of The Democratic Left, told the conference of 300 delegates that "Up until last Thursday Clare just had a researcher and a PA - now she has a department of 700 people - and she is rushed off her feet".
The new Minister for International Development was to have shared a platform with MPs Stephen Twigg and Tony Wright at the conference staged by the Reconnecting Society in London to discuss subjects such as bringing the have-nots into society, work and trade unions, creating responsible citizens, constitutional change and connecting Britain's realities to those of Europe.
Mr Twigg, the secretary of the Fabian Society and the man who defeated former defence minister Michael Portillo in Enfield Southgate, said, "It's time for the left to come in from the cold. A new modernising left has a key role to play both inside and outside Parliament to ensure that politicians cooperate across party boundaries on issues like electoral reform."
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