Number 10 Downing Street denied any responsibility last night for a sensational leak to the Sun newspaper claiming the Hutton report will clear the prime minister, Mr Tony Blair, of any wrong-doing in the Dr David Kelly affair.
News of the leak - which, if accurate, is likely to provoke a furious response from Lord Hutton and opposition leaders in the House of Commons - broke shortly after Mr Blair narrowly escaped a Commons defeat over university fees.
The government's overall majority of 161 fell to just five as the most serious Labour rebellion to date threatened to destroy its flagship Higher Education Bill and cast Mr Blair's leadership into immediate crisis.
But the prime minister suffered heavy damage after a day of drama at Westminster, ahead of another which could still see Lord Hutton's inquiry into the events surrounding the suicide of Dr Kelly cast a cruel light on the workings of his Downing Street office and deliver serious criticisms of the Ministry of Defence.
According to the Sun, Lord Hutton has criticised the Ministry of Defence for not telling government scientist Dr Kelly his name would emerge as the source for a BBC report. The BBC report claimed the UK government had "sexed-up" a dossier on Iraq's weapons capability. Former government communications director Mr Alastair Campbell is to be cleared of responsibility for exaggerating the dossier, according to the Sun.
However, even if the leak is accurate considerable pressure remains on Mr Blair following last night's vote. The Conservative spokesman on education, Mr Tim Yeo, said the result of last night's vote - for 316, against 311 - was "an utter humiliation" for the Blair government, its measure only passed because Scottish Labour MPs had voted to impose charges on English students which would not apply in Scotland.
The Liberal Democrats leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, warned it could prove "a hollow victory" for the government following what he called "a dodgy deal" between Mr Blair, the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, and a number of backbench critics.
Mr Brown, increasingly seen as Mr Blair's eventual successor, was credited with ensuring the government's survival by one of three potential rebels with whom he held 11th-hour talks ahead of last night's vote. And the Chancellor's hand was also detected earlier in the day when one of his key allies, the former chief whip, Mr Nick Brown, performed an astonishing U-turn and announced he would back the government as a result of fresh concessions which No 10 subsequently appeared to dispute.
Mr Blair returned to Downing Street to last night to prepare his Commons statement in response to Lord Hutton's report. He along with other concerned parties received copies of the report yesterday.
Lord Hutton will deliver a "substantial commentary" on his findings at 12.30 p.m. in a televised statement.
Mr Blair will then make his statement to MPs at around 2 p.m.