Obsolete

Former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam is critically ill, hospital officials said this afternoon.

Ms Mowlam had previously suffered a brain tumour and her increasingly frail appearance in recent months prompted fresh fears for her health.

The former MP for Redcar is at King's College hospital in London. A hospital spokeswoman described her condition as "critical but stable".

Although she stood down as an MP in 2001, she has been one of the most popular and charismatic politicians of recent times - earning massive public affection not just for her role in the Good Friday agreement, but from her efforts to overcome a brain tumour, which saw her appear in public with a headscarf to disguise her hair loss.

Mo Mowlam is also a case of a politician with some honest and integrity. As well as helping the Northern Ireland peace protest, she also campaigned for all drugs to be legalised. I probably like her mainly because she is firmly old Labour, and was against the war in Iraq. Most of all though, she is just a warm human being, and not someone who would never break the official party line. Here's hoping that she manages to pull through.