THE former MP, Ms Bernadette McAliskey, has called for the resignation of the British Home Office Minister, Mr David Maclean, for his comments in a letter about her daughter, Roisin.
Ms McAliskey said: "I think if the Minister concerned is not fired from his post immediately then the entire Home Office should be cleared out, bearing in mind that this is the man who would have responsibility for the reopening of wrongful convictions."
Ms McAliskey said she was astonished by the tone of Mr Maclean's letter. "There is no doubt it's the clear intention of the Home Office to try and crush her (Roisin) entirely. . . Roisin has already been convicted as far as they are concerned."
However, the Prime Minister Mr Major, and the Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard defended Mr Maclean, claiming he had been misrepresented in the media and that the BBC coverage of the matter had been a "disgrace".
The row started after Mr Maclean replied to a constituent who had complained about the pregnant 25 year old's treatment. He said he would save his compassion for the innocent victims of "the evil scum of the IRA".
Mr Major said: "I saw the reports this morning and I think they were grotesque. They were grotesque when you see what David Maclean had actually written and the way two separate things were run together."
He welcomed Thursday's Prison Service ruling that Ms McAliskey would be allowed to keep her baby, expected to be born in May, in jail. Her security classification has already been downgraded.
Mr Howard said: "David Maclean's letter was a reply to a constituent who had complained that he was too concerned about protecting the public from dangerous criminals and that he only had compassion for the victims of crime. His reply was a passionate justification of his position. The BBC's treatment of this story has been a disgrace."
Mr Gerry Kelly of Sinn Fein said Mr Maclean's comments would "undoubtedly prejudice" Ms McAliskey's chances of receiving a fair trial if she was extradited to Germany.
Mr Ian Paisley Jnr, the DUPs justice spokesman, said Mr Maclean showed a "healthy candour with regard to his opinions on the IRA which a lot of other ministers have not had the guts to show".
Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna said the Government should demand the resignation of Mr Maclean. "If Mr Maclean cannot accept the most basic tenet that everyone is innocent until proven otherwise, then he is unfit to be involved in the administration of justice."
Meanwhile, Ms McAliskey was refused bail in the High Court in London yesterday.
The German authorities have, applied for her extradition in connection with an IRA bomb attack on a British army base in Germany. She was remanded until April 9th to Bow Street Magistrates Court.