Yesterday MPs from all parties criticised the spiralling cost of consultants and accused the Government of wasting hard-earned public funds. The Government claims its extensive use of external consultancies, including agencies such as McKinsey - a former employee of Prime Minister Tony Blair's strategic adviser Lord Birt - ensures a "more effective delivery" of policies.Figures released by ministers show that over the past three years government departments have paid consultants hundreds of millions of pounds. Advice to Government departments from private consultants costs tax payers around £1bn a year, new figures have shown. Fees to outside consultants have rocketed by 600 per cent since Labour took office in 1997. She is married to Jon Norton, a merchant banker, who already had two children.. Her achievements were all the more remarkable because she was recovering from for a brain tumour at the time.Renowned for her light-hearted disregard of formality, kicking off her shoes and chewing gum in meetings, she reputedly took her wig off to break tension in tense talks.She took a political risk in 1998 by entering the Maze Prison to speak to convicted paramilitaries when it became clear the peace process needed their backing.Loyalist prisoners had withdrawn their support but after her face-to-face talks with prisoners, the paramilitaries' announced they were rejoining talks.Ms Mowlam was born in Watford on 18 September, 1949.
Tony Blair made her Northern Ireland Secretary when Labour swept to power in 1997 and she quickly made a name for herself as a down-to-earth and brutally honest operator.She won widespread acclaim for her perseverance in working towards the Good Friday peace agreement the following year. Food and water have been withdrawn from her in the past few days in accordance with a living will she had made in which she asked not to be resuscitated.Ms Mowlam - one of New Labour's most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. Her father was an alcoholic and the family was invariably short of cash.They moved to Coventry where she attended Coundon Court Comprehensive School before going on to study at Durham and Iowa universities.Ms Mowlam worked as a lecturer and university administrator before being elected MP for Redcar in 1987. In 1995 she married Labour-supporting merchant banker Jon Norton - already a father of two.. Mo Mowlam's condition has sharply deteriorated. Ms Mowlam, 55, who has a brain tumour, took a turn for the worse on Wednesday night at the Pilgrim Hospice in Canterbury, Kent. The former Northern Ireland Secretary was taken to King's College Hospital earlier this month after she fell and injured her head. She has not regained consciousness and, last week, she was transferred to the hospice.
There were also claims the Prime Minister had been angered when the Labour Party conference gave her a longer standing ovation than him.She became even more outspoken after she stood down as an MP, saying it was "harder and harder to defend what the Labour Government is doing".Ms Mowlam was born in Watford on September 18 1949 and nearly died of pneumonia three months later. After her face-to-face talks with the prisoners, the paramilitaries' political representatives then announced they were rejoining the talks.But there was growing opposition to her from more mainstream unionists. In 1999 she was replaced by Peter Mandelson and moved to become Cabinet "enforcer".But her time in the post was marked by a steady stream of reports that someone in high places was briefing against her. Former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam died today in a hospice, a family spokesman said. Click HERE for our exclusive link to your search of the UCAS clearing website..