The British government's comprehensive spending review today looks likely to be overshadowed by continuing speculation about the source of a leaked memo written by the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, in which he said his government was perceived to be "out of touch with gut British instincts".
A top-level inquiry is under way, led by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Richard Wilson, to establish who leaked the memo to the Times and the Sun newspapers and how. But with Mr Blair hoping the announcement of increases in public spending will deflect attention from the leak, there is more bad news for the government today with the publication of Home Office figures showing a 16 per cent rise in reported violent crime.
As Downing Street emphasised its "determination" to establish the source of the leak yesterday, the Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, seized on the government's embarrassment, insisting the Prime Minister was "rattled" by an agenda-setting opposition party. "Now we all know where all the spin and the gimmicks come from in this government," Mr Hague charged. "It comes from the very top. It comes from the Prime Minister himself. It shows that the government gets very rattled that we are now setting the agenda. They don't really know where to turn to next."
Mr Blair's memo on "Touchstone Issues" was written on April 29th at Chequers, ahead of the May local elections and following a sustained Conservative campaign to crack down on asylum-seekers and crime. The memo was circulated among his press secretary, Mr Alastair Campbell, Labour's chief polling adviser, Mr Philip Gould, the Cabinet Office Minister, Ms Mo Mowlam and other advisers.
It said ministers should come up with "discrete", "focused" strategies to dispel the perception that the government was "soft" on crime, "weak" on asylum and "insufficiently assertive" on issues such as the EU and defence. "I should be personally associated with as much of this as possible," Mr Blair concluded.
Lining up to defend Mr Blair, the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw and the Education Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, denied the memo showed the Prime Minister was panicking, rather that he was, in Mr Blunkett's words, "one step ahead of the reality of what then hit us". Mr Straw insisted Mr Blair "does not panic, certainly not. The Prime Minister is the least complacent politician I have ever met."
The security breach is the third at Downing Street or Chequers in a month, but the first involving Mr Blair's correspondence.