Yesterday, she was given a public kiss in the Commons chamber as she prepared to make her resignation speech by Ann Keen, Mr Brown's parliamentary private secretary.Although Ms Short is 57, this is not necessarily the end of her cabinet career. Reports reached Downing Street last year that she fancied the roles of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary if Mr Brown succeeded Mr Blair. Premier Brown might well be tempted to bring her back, albeit in a rather less exalted position.COUNTDOWN TO A RESIGNATION9 March 2003: Clare Short says she will resign if Tony Blair goes to war without a new UN mandate. She says he is "extraordinarily reckless" with global security and his future as Prime Minister. Asked if she would consider resignation if there was no new UN resolution, she replies: "Absolutely: there's no question about that."10 March: Tony Blair's close allies hit back. One source called her attack "an act of treachery".13 March: Robin Cook suggests he too will resign if Britain goes to war without a UN mandate.14 March: Ms Short says she is feeling "more optimistic" about Iraq after talks with the Prime Minister.17 March: Mr Cook leaves the Cabinet because of the lack of "broad international support".March 18: Ms Short announces she will stay, but she was still "very critical" of Mr Blair's policy.

She says quitting would be "cowardly", and Mr Blair had told her he wanted her to "stay for the reconstruction of Iraq".11 April: Ms Short refuses to say Britain was right to go to war and appears to criticise troops for failing to make a "bigger effort" to end looting.15 April: She says the "death of a human being" was not a "price worth paying" for toppling Saddam Hussein.7 May: Ms Short misses a vote supporting Government's flagship scheme for foundation hospitals.8 May: She misses the weekly cabinet meeting.9 May: A Blair aide says: "She has given up She has shot herself in the foot. No one else has shot her."12 May: Ms Short departs, with a devastating indictment of Mr Blair and his style of government.Paul Peachey'I am sad and sorry that it has ended like this'Dear Tony,I have decided that I must leave the Government.As you know, I thought the run-up to the conflict in Iraq was mishandled, but I agreed to stay in the Government to help support the reconstruction effort for the people of Iraq.I am afraid that the assurances you gave me about the need for a UN mandate to establish a legitimate Iraqi government have been breached. The Security Council resolution that you and Jack have so secretly negotiated contradicts the assurances I have given in the House of Commons and elsewhere about the legal authority of the occupying powers, and the need for a UN-led process to establish a legitimate Iraqi government. This makes my position impossible.It has been a great honour for me to have led the establishment and development of the Department for International Development over the past six years.

I am proud of what we have achieved and much else that the Government has done.I am sad and sorry that it has ended like this.Yours ClareDear Clare,Thank you for your letter of resignation from the Government. As you know, I believe you have done an excellent job in the Department, which has the deserved reputation as one of the best such departments anywhere in the world That is in no small measure down to you. Our record on aid and development is one of the Government's proudest achievements and I would like to thank you for your role in bringing that about.I know you have had doubts about the Government's position on Iraq, but I was pleased you stayed to support the Government during this military conflict. Had you stayed on, there was clearly an important job to be done in the continuing efforts to bring about the reconstruction of Iraq. My commitment to that effort remains as strong as ever.I am afraid I do not understand your point about the UN. We are in the process of negotiating the UN resolution at the moment. And the agreement on this resolution with our American and Spanish partners has scarcely been a secret.As for who should lead the process of reconstruction, I have always been clear that this is not a matter of the UN leading or the coalition leading The two should work together.

That is exactly what the resolution stipulates.Yours ever, Tony. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, will warn his European Union colleagues today that a radical increase in competition and economic reform is the best way to help the "pro- European" cause in Britain. Ms Liddell said that a "sixth test" should be "the opportunity cost of not going in".In a move to reassure the pro-euro camp, Mr Brown pointed out at the weekend that he had no intention of making European economic reform a sixth test for British membership. However, the Chancellor will today emphasise the importance of such reform as finance ministers from the 10 new member states meet for the first time.Mr Brown will seek the support from the largely former Communist states as he argues the need for much more flexibility in European economies to compete with the US.He will give his enthusiastic backing to the European Commission's new plans to improve the EU single market and remove existing obstacles to free trade in services across the continent."Pro-Europeans need to unite around the agenda for reform," a Treasury source said.