Around the same time, a group of more than a dozen British expatriates in Tashkent, including businessmen, wrote to the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw defending Murray as an advocate for inward British trade. One of the co-signers of the letter said there was a "common belief that Mr Murray is being sacrificed to the Americans". Members of Ozod Ovoz (Free Voice), a free speech group in the country pleaded with Blair and Bush for Murray to remain in his post as he was "an example for other ambassadors". Murray's stance was also supported by Clare Short, then a former Secretary of State for International Development, and Daniel Hannan, the Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP).