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One government source described her attack as an act of treachery

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One government source described her attack as "an act of treachery".Ms Short stunned the political world on Sunday by threatening to resign unless Britain won a fresh United Nations resolution before military action is taken in Iraq, branding Mr Blair's approach as "reckless".Normally, such a clear breach of cabinet collective responsibility would result in the sack. But at the risk of looking weak, Mr Blair judged that dismissing Ms Short now might fuel the Labour rebellion over Iraq and prompt other ministers to resign.Mr Blair's aides said he was "too busy" dealing with "more important" matters than Ms Short's future. "He is spending all his waking hours trying to secure the very thing she says she wants," one said.Another close Blair ally said: "She won't be there [in the Cabinet] in the medium or long term. The truth is that she used language which was reckless and calculated to undermine the Prime Minister's ability to secure a new UN resolution.

She has sent a signal round the world that he is not supported by his own Cabinet."Mr Blair's official spokesman said Mr Blair was "surprised" by Ms Short's remarks because she did not mention resigning when they held a one-to-one meeting on Thursday last week. The spokesman refused to say whether the Prime Minister still had full confidence in his International Development Secretary, saying tersely: "Clare Short remains a cabinet minister."The Prime Minister made clear his unhappiness about her outspoken attack in two brief telephone conversations with Ms Short on Sunday evening and yesterday morning.Last night Mr Blair was slow-handclapped by a few of the 20 women who quizzed him on ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme. Asked about Ms Short's attack, the Prime Minister said: "My response is quite simply that I'm working flat out for a second resolution and the important thing at the moment is that we stay together and argue our case collectively and do everything possible to secure that second resolution I don't disrespect anyone who has a different point of view. But in the end I have to take a decision."Yesterday Ms Short contradicted Downing Street's version of events, insisting she had raised her anxieties at every opportunity since the crisis began. "She felt her concerns were not being heard," one friend said "In order to have some impact, she had to do it now. It would be too late if she had waited even another week."Dennis Turner, her parliamentary private secretary, one of several ministerial aides who will resign if a UN mandate for war is not obtained, said: "She wants to continue as Secretary of State. She wants to serve her country in the way she is doing so magnificently."Cabinet ministers rounded on Ms Short for airing her concerns in the media.

Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, said: "The timing is odd. If she has concerns then she should raise them and should have raised them directly with the Prime Minister in the first instance rather than deciding to do what she did."Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, a close ally of Ms Short, said: "The whole country should support Tony Blair in his determination to secure international agreement for a second UN resolution and for the disarmament of Saddam Hussein."Peter Mandelson, the Blairite former cabinet minister, said: "You are bound to ask why she should suddenly discover her principles on this matter on this particular Sunday afternoon when this particular BBC interview was recorded.". Two stories have captivated the tabloid press during recent weeks more than any others. Rather than focusing on America's steps towards war with Iraq and the impending terrorist threat on London, popular newspaper interest has lain in a Welsh movie actress, her Hollywood husband, and their starring role at the High Court, and in a Scottish football manager's confrontation with Goldenballs. Brought under breach of confidence, the action relates to the unauthorised photographs of the happy couple's wedding. It seems they weren't happy, given that they had done an exclusive deal with OK! magazine and the photos published were unauthorised and published in its rival, Hello! Not only is this case, whichever way it is decided, likely to establish principles as to how private a celebrity's life may be, it may also establish whether a private life can be a commodity exploited for commercial gain. Even more reason, they may think, for celebrities to guard their privacy well.

The law may not yet help to keep the events of the Old Trafford dressing room confidential, but the man sporting a boot-shaped scar above his left eyebrow, his team mates on the pitch, and celebrities generally might eagerly be awaiting the High Court's decision.Posh'n'Becks are undoubtedly among the UK's most-recognised couples, able to exploit their images, but there are down-sides to the fame and riches that accompany their status. Only last year Victoria and her baby Brooklyn were the subject of an alleged kidnap plot, and every day their lives are subject to the kind of media inter- est that makes emergency injunctions and legal letters par for the course.Media interest in the celebrities' private lives, and that of footballers in particular, has perhaps never been so intense. The desire for lurid details about these rich, young men and their beautiful wives and girlfriends has become so desperate that the media have even had to make it up. ITV1's drama Footballers' Wives is an absurd exaggeration of the public perception of what lies behind the golden gates of our heroes' homes, yet the public, and the tabloids, seem to love it.If the fictional affairs of make-believe footballers are such meat for the tabloid vultures, then what price revelations about real footballers such as Beckham? One of the stars of the show, Gary Lucy, sees the problems. As he told Glasgow's Evening Times, "The good thing is that I get to live that lifestyle when I'm acting, but I don't have to take on the same pressures that footballers do."While tabloid interference into the lives of all celebrities is feverish, there seems some eerie obsession with footballers that makes "exclusives" about their private business so newsworthy.

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