Foreign Office over giving British passports to Dependent Territories citizens were denied yesterday.

Both The Guardian and the Daily Mail said Home Secretary Jack Straw and International Development Minister Clare Short were furious with Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's proposals for the Dependent Territories.

The Guardian described the row as "the biggest political dogfight since Tony Blair became Prime Minister''.

It said Mr. Cook had infuriated Mr. Straw and Ms Short by "unilaterally'' announcing new arrangements for the Dependent Territories on Wednesday.

Mr. Cook told the Dependent Territories Association conference that the British Government was looking "urgently and sympathetically'' at the question of granting British passports to Dependent Territories citizens.

But Mr. Straw was reported to be "furious'' that Mr. Cook had made the statement when the Home Office still had reservations about the move.

Foreign Office and Home Office spokesmen last month dismissed reports of a similar turf war as "speculation'' and have maintained that talks on the issue have been ongoing between the two major UK ministries.

And a Home Office spokesman said: "The speech was agreed Government policy and resulted from extensive consultation between the departments. The Guardian was speculating.'' Ms Short was reported to have "gone ballistic'' over the announcement that a new Department of Overseas Territories -- the proposed new name for Britain's remaining colonies -- would be set up in the Foreign office.

That department, to be headed by Foreign office Junior Minister Baroness Symons, will now take over some of the duties previously controlled by Ms Short's Department of International Development.

But the Foreign office spokesman insisted that the new department would be a joint department in which the Ministry for International Development would still have a say.

"In a radio interview yesterday, Baroness Symons made it categorically clear that there was no question of the responsibilities being changed.'' Ms Short and her Ministry had been heavily criticised for their handling of the Montserrat crisis. This was punctuated by her response to the Montserrat government's calls for aid. "They will be wanting golden elephants next.'' The Guardian and the Daily Mail both reported that Mr. Straw and Ms Short were now planning an unlikely alliance of the right and left wings of the Labour Party to "join in a pincer movement to force Mr. Cook to back down''.

Before Mr. Cook's speech to the Dependent Territories Association conference on Wednesday, newspapers who had received advance notice of his plans said the new department would be considered a snub for Ms Short.

Both Mr. Straw and Ms Short were said to have objected to a draft copy of Mr.

Cook's speech when they were shown it last Friday.

Mr. Straw was said to be concerned that re-opening the passport questions soon after the return of Hong Kong to China when most residents were refused British citizenship, would be controversial.

The Home Office was also said to fear that the move would result in Dependent Territories citizens flocking to the UK to live, although the bulk of the territories' leaders have said that is highly unlikely.

Montserrat Chief Minister David Brandt has said that some refugees from the "volcano island'' now living in the UK wish to return to the Caribbean but cannot afford to do so.

Ms Short is said to have protested that the Dependent Territories come under her department and Mr. Cook could not simply "annexe them''.

Until last year's general election, the Department of International Development was a department of the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office spokesman said there was no question of that changing and denied the FCO was trying to win the department back.

tendencies,''he said. A spokesman for her department could not be reached for comment. The Foreign Office spokesman also said that a decision by the Ministry on the passports issue was likely to be taken "months, rather than weeks''.

He added: `However, it will be a matter of months, not years.'' He added that a White Paper on Britain's policy towards the Dependent Territories would probably be taken to Parliament "after all the issues concerning the Dependent Territories have been resolved'' and that it was likely that the passports decision would be announced separately.

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