Northern Secretary Mr Peter Mandelson strove today to rebut allegations he acted improperly in British passport applications by an Indian business tycoon.
Mr Mandelson, who has already resigned from government once in a scandal, released a statement saying he had talked to the immigration minister in 1998 about a passport application by Mr Srichand Hinduja.
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Peter Mandelson, once again mired in controversy
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Mr Hinduja, and his brothers Gopichand and Prakash, are now in India for questioning by police about their links to a 15 year-old arms scandal.
Mr Mandelson said he had neither supported nor sponsored Hinduja's application for a passport.
"An innocent inquiry was made in a two minute phone conversation facilitated by civil servants and monitored by them, he said. That is the beginning and end of this story," Mr Mandelson said. It is believed he spoke to Home Office minister Mike O'Brien about the process of passport requests, having met Mr Hinduja at a party.
Mr Blair's official spokesman leapt to his defence, saying Mr Mandelson had merely passed inquiries on to the relevant department. "There is nothing improper at all in Peter having been approached at an event," Mr Alastair Campbell said.
But he was forced to admit that the British government's line earlier in the week -- that Mr Mandelson had been asked to get involved but had not, had not proved strictly accurate.
-Reuters