Straw: Facing electoral threat

Jack Straw is facing an electoral challenge in his Blackburn constituency by a civil servant sacked by the Foreign Office.

Former ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray has been made redundant from the Foreign Office after claiming he was brought home because of his decision to speak out against human rights abuses.

And the ex-diplomat has now said he will stand against Jack Straw in the general election to give voters the chance to register their support for his stance.
 
Murray was sacked from his Tashkent posting in October last year after using media interviews to attack intelligence used by MI6, obtained through torture of detainees by local security services.

The government said he had lost the confidence of senior officials, although a departmental report later praised his decision to speak out against the Uzbek administration.

Having been given a payoff of £315,000 Murray said he had been "completely vindicated... of completely false allegations".

He has now promised to stand in Straw's Blackburn constituency so he can directly challenge the foreign secretary's "support for torture", backing for the war in Iraq, and alliance with America.

"Straw is the foreign secretary who was in charge of MI6 when it produced its dossier of lies on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction," he said.

"Straw is the foreign secretary who saw the UK enter an illegal war against the wishes of the UN Security Council.

"Straw is the foreign secretary who expressly agreed that MI6 should use intelligence material obtained under torture. And Straw is foreign secretary when we have slavishly sold out any ethical principles for blind support of George Bush.

"Many Labour supporters are angry, disillusioned or plain bewildered by this. Nationally, they still may want Labour to win. But in Blackburn they have the opportunity, by rejecting the foreign secretary, to reject this aberrant foreign policy.

"I intend therefore to offer myself for election to the voters of Blackburn in the forthcoming general election, to put these issues squarely before Straw's own electorate."