UK's former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam dies

The death was announced this morning of the former Northern Ireland Secretary, Mo Mowlam. She was 55 and had been critically ill. Friends yesterday said her condition was rapidly deteriorating. Ms Mowlam -- one of New Labour's most popular figures -- stood down from the Commons at the 2001 general election after 14 years as an MP. She was made Northern Ireland Secretary when Labour came to power in 1997 and she quickly made a name for herself as a down-to-earth and brutally honest operator and negotiator.