British member of Parliament Ann Winterton yesterday defiantly refused to apologise for a racist joke about the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy, and was expelled from the Conservative Party. She insisted she would carry on as MP for Congleton despite increasing calls to stand down. Winterton, 62, sparked a fresh Conservative race dispute and earned the wrath of the party's leader, Michael Howard, after joking about the tragedy just weeks after 20 Chinese cocklers were killed by the tide at Bolton-le-Sands. She told a Whitehall dinner about a shark that was sick of eating tuna, and said: "Let's go to Morecambe for a Chinese." Howard condemned her, saying, "I very much deplore what Ann Winterton said. What she said was unacceptable. I am very sorry indeed she wasn't able to apologise for it. That is why she can no longer be a member of the parliamentary Conservative Party." But Winterton refused to back down. She issued a statement saying: "I do not intend to comment about recent events, other than to say it has never been my practice to discuss publicly conversations which took place at a private dinner party in a private flat. "The decision by my party's leadership will not impact on my ability or determination to represent my constituents." She appeared briefly on the opposition benches in the Commons, sitting near the Ulster Unionist MPs, far from Conservatives. It is the second time she has earned the fury of Tory leaders over her comments on race. In 2002 Iain Duncan Smith sacked her as a frontbencher for making a joke about Pakistanis at a rugby club dinner. Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to enter the fray yesterday. But Winterton's comments were condemned by Ben Bradshaw, the fisheries minister, during a visit to the Morecambe Bay cockle beds. "Her comments were appalling and in the worst possible taste, but her future is a matter for the Conservative Party and for Michael Howard," he said. "People will make their own decisions about whether they think any action taken against her is sufficient." Geraldine Smith, Labour MP for Morecambe, said: "She has been an absolute disgrace. Her behaviour is in such a stark contrast to the way local people reacted, which was shock and sadness at such a waste of life." Roland Domleo, a Conservative councillor who is also the leader of Congleton Borough Council, said: "The first joke she made two years ago was tasteless and offensive, but this one is just sick. It's even worse than last time. "Last time we put it down to a lack of judgment and she was able to carry on. When someone does the same thing again, you are left thinking. I'm sure the people of Congleton will be disgusted and will want to know how she could make such a grave error. "She has caused great offence and upset a great number of people." IndependentNews Wire.

Britain Spied on UN Chief'

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Blix had mobile tapped by allied spies

Hans Blix, the United Nation's chief weapons inspector, had his mobile phone tapped, according to fresh allegations to emerge the day after former Cabinet minister Clare Short claimed that British agents spied on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the run-up to war in Iraq. Australian radio has reported that Mr. Blix's mobile phone was tapped whenever he was in Iraq and the information shared between the United States, Britain and their allies. The report follows Ms. Short's claim that she had seen transcripts of Mr. Annan's private telephone conversations, obtained by the bugging of his offices. According to the new reports, a source at the Australian intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments, has now said that Mr. Blix's mobile phone was monitored and his conversations recorded while he was in Iraq before the war last year. The claims have been made by Australian Broadcasting Corporation investigative reporter Andrew Fowler. But Mr. Fowler has not said who tapped Mr. Blix's phone. Mr. Blix, 75, headed the UN inspectors from 2000 to the middle of 2003 and was in Iraq for months before the war searching for evidence that Saddam Hussein was developing a weapons programme. Transcripts of conversations Mr. Blix had in Iraq were made available to the Australian intelligence agency, a source is said to have told the ABC. Australia shared intelligence with close allies Britain and the United States in the run-up to last year's invasion of Iraq and Australian troops were dispatched to take part in the war. A spokesman for the Australian attorney general Philip Ruddock said: "We don't make it a practice of commenting on what we might and might not have seen in relation to intelligence matters." TelegraphNews.

Blair dodges spying questions

Tony Blair has tried to divert attention away from claims that Britain spied on the United Nations by mounting a savage attack on Tory spending plans.

In a keynote speech to Labour's Scottish Conference in Inverness, the Prime Minister avoided speaking about Clare Short's claims that UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was bugged in the build-up to the Iraq war. He accused the Tories of Thatcherite values while highlighting Labour's record on the economy. He told activists that to prepare for a third term of government, Labour needed to find new ways of communicating with the public and engaging with them. "We should be optimistic about Britain's future, because if there is one fact which sums up the scale of our achievement, it is surely this," he said." This Labour Government is responsible for the longest period of peacetime growth since records first began in 1870 - 130 years ago." Earlier Mr. Blair, accompanied by Jack McConnell, the Scottish First Minister, refused to be drawn on the subject as he spent a relaxed 20 minutes visiting the Greenhouse, a business start-up support unit at Inverness's Beechwood Business Park. He spent time chatting and smiling with staff but did not answer reporters questions. TelegraphNews.

Did we bug Kofi Annan?
Ewen MacAskill, Patrick Wintour and Richard Norton-Taylor
 

The UN expressed outrage yesterday after an extraordinary claim by the former cabinet minister Clare Short that British intelligence services were involved in bugging the private office of its secretary general, Kofi Annan. Mr. Annan's team, after speaking to the British ambassador at the UN, launched an inquiry into the legal implications of the alleged bugging. "We want this action to stop, if indeed it has been carried out," said Mr. Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard. "It is not good for the United Nations' work and it is illegal." It is believed to be unprecedented for covert action to have been taken against the UN secretary general. Ms. Short, the former international development secretary, delivered her blow to Tony Blair while Downing Street was still reeling from the collapse of the court case against Katharine Gun, the GCHQ officer-turned-whistleblower. She claimed that the