Clare Short

Clare Short is to be questioned by the government's chief whip, it has emerged.

She is to be called in for questioning by Hilary Armstrong following the former Cabinet minister's claims about British spying at the United Nations.

The former international development secretary also angered ministers and other Labour MPs by revealing that Cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull had urged her not to give any further interviews about the claims.

The meeting between Short and the chief whip, who is tasked with keeping Labour MPs in line, is likely to be a tense affair.

It follows claims that Short has vowed to force Tony Blair out of office and reports that ministers are planning "show trials" for persistently disloyal MPs.

Short has already been accused of being "totally irresponsible" by the prime minister and has angered some backbench colleagues.

At a meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party on Wednesday morning, it is thought that several spoke out to condemn her actions.

And one Labour MP, Kali Mountford, said that "if people...continue in this blithe spirit that they hold the moral high ground on every single issue and don't have to listen to anyone else, I think very much they have forfeited the right to preach to us in the way that some of them do".

She added that Short was "putting herself in a perilous position as far as the party is concerned".

"I think she is putting herself in a difficult corner to get out of. I hope for her sake that she can, but I can't see how she's going
to do it," Mountford told the BBC.