Short left isolated by Labour

Clare Short was targeted today in a savage onslaught by Labour colleagues and the Government over her bugging allegations.

A concerted operation was swung into action to question the former Cabinet minister's motives - and warn off Left-wingers tempted to use her sensational allegations to undermine the Prime Minister.

It left Ms Short looking an isolated figure at Westminster, with even anti-war Labour rebels nervously distancing themselves from her.

Former foreign secretary Robin Cook, who resigned over the war, acted swiftly to make clear he had seen nothing when in Government to corroborate her claims that Kofi Annan's conversations were taped by British intelligence. In an newspaper article today he says: "I would be surprised if it were true that in the run-up to the war on Iraq we intercepted the calls of Kofi Annan.

"It is my impression that ... the problem was not in establishing what was the advice of Kofi Annan but in getting London or Washington to listen to it."

Some of Ms Short's closest former ministerial colleagues launched the most sustained attacks on her personal reputation. Her former deputy at the Department for International Development, George Foulkes, flatly accused her of seeking only to undermine Tony Blair.

"This is the latest outburst from Clare," he said. "There has been a pattern since she ceased being a minister of constant attacks on the government and particularly Tony Blair.

"She has got a clear political agenda and this is the latest part of it." He dismissed her as a "hokey-cokey" ex-minister: "You never knew whether she was in or out."

Former Scottish secretary Helen Liddell dismissed Ms Short's claims as "completely unsubstantiated", adding: "I think a period of silence from Clare might be appreciated.

"It is becoming increasingly difficult to work out where Clare is coming from. This is a pattern of behaviour that really is confounding her friends and colleagues and I don't think it is doing the country any good."

Although legal experts said Ms Short's conduct almost certainly broke the Official Secrets Act, Whitehall sources quickly ruled out any likelihood of her being prosecuted. "We don't want her to become a martyr," said one. It was also believed among Labour MPs that any prosecution could be likely to fail embarrassingly if Ms Short insisted before a jury that her actions were justified in the public interest.

As a member of the Privy Council, which meant she could see top secret information, Ms Short was under a special obligation of confidentiality and there were even suggestions that she could be stripped of the title "Right Honourable". But in a remarkable display of bullish defiance, Ms Short challenged her criticsto attempt to discipline her. "I am not exactly trembling in my shoes," she said. "I'm not troubled about myself. I've reached an age and stage where I'm free and can tell the truth and be responsible to my conscience. It's not about me. It's about the Middle East, Iraq, our country, its honour, my party, my government and its honour."