Clare Short joins calls for Blair to go soon

Short, who resigned form Blair's government in protest at the Iraq war, said the prime minister, whose Labour Party won a third term in power last week but with a greatly reduced majority, should depart swiftly.

"I think it would be best for him and for the government and for the Labour Party if he announced that he was going pretty soon and we agreed a process for selecting a new leader around the time of (the Labour) conference," Short told BBC radio.