BRITAIN:British defence secretary Des Browne saw off demands for his resignation yesterday with an apology to MPs for having failed to block the sale of stories by some of the sailors freed by Iran.
However, the respite for prime minister Tony Blair's government looked likely to prove temporary last night as Labour braced itself for further damaging opinion polls amid increasingly frantic Blairite attempts to force a serious leadership contest, and so block chancellor Gordon Brown's "coronation" as Mr Blair's successor.
The Conservatives had hoped to exploit Labour's current leadership vacuum by claiming Mr Browne's ministerial scalp and forcing an unwanted reshuffle on Mr Blair close to the party's long- awaited leadership contest.
Mr Blair is expected to trigger the six- or seven-week contest with a resignation statement soon after May 3rd local and devolved elections.
However, Mr Blair's backing, together with that of the chief of the defence staff and the heads of the armed forces - combined with an ineffective performance by his Conservative shadow Liam Fox - enabled Mr Browne to survive his promised Commons ordeal yesterday in relative comfort. After Mr Browne announced an inquiry into the controversial cash-for-stories decision - and a separate inquiry into how the sailors and marines came to be captured - Dr Fox suggested the defence secretary had "humiliated" the UK and that his position was "becoming untenable".
But with a strong line-up of cabinet supporters on the government front bench for Mr Browne's statement, Labour backbencher Stephen Pound caught the mood, telling him that while he might have anticipated a "heavy barrage" of criticism, it turned out "most of the shells were blank".
There was a feeling around Westminster that Mr Browne had benefited from the Easter recess, during which the controversy had continued unabated. However, he also won the plaudits of Labour MPs after he "profoundly regretted" the "mistake" he had made, and any damage to the reputation of Britain's armed forces.
And Mr Browne further bolstered his position when, pressed by Dr Fox, he declared himself "very happy to say sorry" for his initial failure to block the navy's decision that the detainees could be permitted to sell their stories .
Mr Browne said: "I should have foreseen that this attempt by the navy, in good faith, to handle an exceptional situation would be interpreted as indicating a departure in the way the armed forces deal with the media.
"I made a mistake. I have been completely open about that."