Blair called Short irresponsible

There had been suggestions Ms Short could lose the Labour whip or even be suspended from the party.

But Labour chairman Ian McCartney was among those saying they did not want to make the MP a "martyr".

The prime minister has branded her claims "irresponsible" but Ms Short said that was a distraction tactic.

'Responsibilities'

Ms Short was summoned to talks by Labour Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong in recent days.

The decision to give her a warning came from Labour's Parliamentary Committee, which discussed the issue on Wednesday.

The committee is headed by Parliamentary Labour Party chairman Jean Corston and consists of a mixture of government ministers and backbenchers.

Mr Blair was not present at the meeting.

A Labour spokesman said: "The chief whip will be writing to Clare Short to reflect the views of Labour's Parliamentary Committee and remind Clare of her responsibilities under the code of conduct."

Resignation demand

Mr McCartney has already said Ms Short committed a "significant error of judgement".

He also said her continuing criticisms over Iraq were a mistake, but insisted she was not being silenced.

The Birmingham Ladywood MP has said there was a rush to war and called on Mr Blair to resign.

She claimed to have seen transcripts of Mr Annan's telephone conversations.

Mr Blair refused to say whether the claims were true or false but accused her of undermining the work of the security services - a criticism rejected by Ms Short.